Cairo, Egypt – Palestinian sources close to Hamas told AFP that talks were underway between the militant group and mediators from Egypt and Qatar Thursday to revive a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza.
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.
The talks in Doha come a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to seize parts of Gaza if Hamas did not release hostages, 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 resumed Israeli strikes in Gaza, 855 people have been killed, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Israel’s resumption of intensive military operations in Gaza on March 18 shattered weeks of relative calm during the ceasefire, and militants returned to launching rocket attacks days later.
The United Nations said on Wednesday that the renewed Israeli operations 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, which triggered the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 50,208 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry.
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