Hamas said talks in Qatar on Tuesday aimed at a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange in Gaza were “serious and positive”, a day after an Israeli delegation arrived in Doha to meet with mediators.
“Hamas affirms that, in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place today in Doha under the auspices of our Qatari and Egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation ceases to impose new conditions,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.
Israeli officials arrived in Doha for talks aimed at bridging gaps between the two parties, AFP reported citing a source with knowledge of the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity due to their sensitivity.
The meetings follow a trip by David Barnea, who heads Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, to the Qatari capital on Wednesday.
Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has been involved in months of behind-the-scenes negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release.
But apart from a one-week pause in fighting late last year, during which scores of Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, successive negotiations have failed to halt the war.
A senior Hamas official also said that negotiations for a deal were “closer than ever before” but warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could still “disrupt the agreement as he has done every time before”.
Meanwhile, Israel continued its relentless bombardment campaign of Gaza and at least 32 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes across the besieged enclave on Tuesday.
Ten people lost their lives in a strike that hit a home in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, Anadolu reported citing a medical source.
The Gaza Civil Defense said that body parts and charred remains of the victims were brought to the hospital.
Two more people were killed in another strike targeting a group of civilians near a mosque in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, eyewitnesses said.
Another Israeli strike targeting a house left 15 people dead in the northern town of Beit Lahia, Anadolu reported citing a medical source.
Four more people were killed and several others injured in Israeli shelling of a group of civilians in the Beit Lahia Project area.
Another Palestinian was killed and several people were injured when Israeli forces bombed a car west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the source said.
In the northern Gaza Strip, an Israeli drone targeted the Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the Beit Lahia Project area, causing a fire in one of the hospital buildings, according to eyewitnesses.
On Monday evening, an Israeli army drone struck the hospital’s power generators, causing a power outage in the facility and causing damage in its intensive care unit.
Since October 5, Israel has launched a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza to allegedly prevent Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
Since then, no sufficient humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and fuel, was allowed into the area, leaving the remaining population there on the verge of imminent famine.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing more than 45,000 people, mostly women and children, the territory’s health ministry reported.
