DOHA: Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel on Wednesday met with Palestinian resistance group Hamas officials in Doha for talks on a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, a source with knowledge of peace negotiations told AFP.
The lead mediators met with Hamas members to “discuss a deal for a truce in Gaza and the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners”, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
CIA chief Bill Burns was also expected in Qatar to continue working with mediators, Qatar and Egypt, to reach an agreement to halt Israeli violence, the same source had told AFP on Tuesday.
Brett McGurk, Biden’s top Middle East adviser, was headed to Cairo, according to news site Axios which quoted an administration source as talking of a “full-court press… to get a breakthrough”.
Qatar, with Egypt and the United States, has been engaged in months of talks over details for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
But except for a seven-day break in hostilities beginning in November that led to the release of more than 100 hostages, the mediation efforts have not stopped the fighting.
Seeking to restart talks, US President Joe Biden said last week Israel was offering a new three-stage roadmap.
On Wednesday, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the Palestinian resistance group sought a “comprehensive cessation of aggression” in Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal.
The leader of Hamas’s political office also called for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners. “Hamas is conducting the peace talks armed with this stance,” Haniyeh said.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden had outlined a proposed three-phase plan aimed at halting the violence, exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and increasing aid. While the proposal has garnered support from G7 powers and Arab states, significant hurdles remain. Hamas has insisted on a permanent truce and full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Israel has rejected these demands presented by Hamas.
Biden has deployed high-level officials, including CIA chief Bill Burns and Middle East adviser Brett McGurk, to Qatar for renewed negotiations. Egypt, Qatar, and the US are set to meet in Doha to discuss the mechanism for restoring truce talks, as pressure mounts for a breakthrough. Biden has also urged Hamas to accept the deal.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military pounded central Gaza with heavy air strikes on Wednesday. Since October 7 last year, Israeli bombardment has killed more than 36,586 Palestinians, mostly women and children, the territory’s health ministry reported.
Tensions were high in annexed east Jerusalem, where Israeli police deployed in large numbers to oversee the annual “flag march,” a contentious event that has historically sparked clashes.
The bloodiest-ever Gaza war raged on unabated with Israeli jets continuing bombardment overnight and Palestinian officials reporting yet more deaths.
Urban combat and shelling rocked Gaza’s southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, the last area hit by the Israeli ground invasion launched in northern Gaza in late October. The Israeli ground invasion has extended to central areas, with the military announcing targeted operational activity in Bureij and eastern Deir al-Balah.
Bombardment of central Gaza killed 11 people near the Al-Maghazi camp and two near Deir al-Balah, said witnesses and Palestinian civil defence and hospital officials. Civilians, including children, were rushed to hospitals as families scrambled to flee the violence, loading belongings onto pickup trucks and wheelchairs.
Almost eight months into the Israeli bombardment campaign, global outrage has spiralled over the soaring death toll of Palestinians and the destruction in Gaza, where UN data suggests more than half of all buildings are destroyed or damaged.
Qatar said on Tuesday it had yet to see statements from either side “that give us a lot of confidence”, but that Doha was “working with both sides on proposals on the table”.
Despite international efforts, a senior Hamas official in Beirut reiterated the group’s rejection of any deal that excludes a permanent ceasefire. Meanwhile, Israel faces mounting criticism and diplomatic isolation, with cases against it pending before international courts and several European governments recognizing a Palestinian state.
Since October 7 last year, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign killing at least 36,550 Palestinian people, mostly women and children, in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
