Israeli forces have killed at least 855 Palestinians in Gaza since resuming their assault [Getty]
Palestinian sources close to Hamas told AFP that talks were underway between the faction and mediators from Egypt and Qatar Thursday to revive a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza.
“A meeting began this evening between the Egyptian delegation responsible for negotiations in Doha and a Hamas delegation in an effort to solidify a ceasefire,” said a source who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.
Mediators from Qatar were also involved in the discussions, the source added.
Talks are focusing on the possibility of implementing a truce during the Eid al-Fitr and Jewish Passover holidays, as well as ensuring the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the source said.
“Mediators are engaging in intensive discussions with all parties to cement the ceasefire and move toward the second phase of the agreement,” he added.
He said Hamas had expressed a willingness to respond “positively” to any proposal that halts the fighting.
Another Palestinian source close to Hamas said that despite the discussions, “no breakthrough” had been achieved so far.
“A prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement are possible, but their success depends on (Israel’s) approval and its willingness not to obstruct the process,” the source said.
“Mediators are presenting proposals that are currently under review.”
Stalemate
Negotiations between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Egypt along with Qatar and the United States, have been deadlocked for weeks following the expiry in early March of the first phase of a January 19 ceasefire.Â
The talks in Doha come a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to seize parts of Gaza if Hamas did not release captives, while the militant group warned they would return “in coffins” if Israel did not stop bombing the Palestinian territory.
In more than a week of since Israel ended the fragile truce with strikes on Gaza, 855 Palestinians have been killed – including many women and children – according to the territory’s health ministry.
Israel’s resumption of its assault on Gaza on March 18 shattered weeks of relative calm during the ceasefire, and Hamas and its allied groups returned to launching rocket attacks days later.
The United Nations said on Wednesday that the renewed Israeli onslaught had displaced 142,000 people in just seven days, and warned supplies were dwindling in the face of Israel’s aid blockade.
Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas says many of the captives now deceased were killed by Israeli bombing.
Israel has killed at least 50,208 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry.
A separate death toll released by Gaza’s government media office in January which includes those still under the rubble put the death toll at over 61,000.
