Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar on Sunday for proximity talks with Hamas on the latest proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had accepted the invitation despite what he described as the “unacceptable” changes that Hamas wanted to make to a plan presented by mediators from Qatar, the US and Egypt.
On Friday night, Hamas said it had delivered a “positive response” to the proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and that it was ready for negotiations.
However, a Palestinian official said the group had sought amendments including a guarantee that hostilities would not resume if talks on a permanent truce failed.
In Gaza itself, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Sunday that 80 people killed in Israeli attacks had arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours.
Seven people were killed, including a doctor and his three children, when tents in the al-Mawasi area were bombed on Saturday, according to a hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, two American employees of the controversial aid distribution organisation backed by Israel and the US – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – were wounded in what it said was a grenade attack at its site in the Khan Younis area.
The Israeli and US governments both blamed Hamas, which has not commented.
But it added: “In light of an assessment of the situation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that the invitation to proximity talks be accepted and that the contacts for the return of our hostages – on the basis of the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to – be continued. The negotiating team will leave tomorrow.”
Earlier, an Israeli official had briefed local media that there was “something to work with” in the way that Hamas had responded.
Mediators are likely to have their work cut out to bridge the remaining gaps at the indirect talks in Doha.
Watching them closely will be US President Donald Trump, who has been talking up the chances of an agreement in recent days.
Source: BBC/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma