According to a Palestinian official, Israel and Hamas did not reach a breakthrough during their recent indirect discussions in Doha concerning a Gaza ceasefire.
“The morning negotiation session did not yield a breakthrough, but discussions will continue, and Hamas is hopeful for an agreement,” the official commented on the efforts to end 21 months of conflict in Gaza.
Another Palestinian source close to the negotiations indicated that talks would resume later in the evening.
This development occurs just before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting in Washington with US President Donald Trump, who is advocating for a deal.
Ahead of Mr. Netanyahu’s third visit since Mr. Trump’s return to office this year, the US president remarked that there is a “good chance we have a deal with Hamas… during the coming week.”
US President Donald Trump was seen returning to the White House prior to his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We have managed to free a number of hostages, and regarding the remaining ones, several will be coming out,” he informed reporters.
Before departing for Washington, Mr. Netanyahu stated that his meeting with Mr. Trump could “definitely help advance this” agreement.
The US president is seeking a truce in Gaza, which is facing a humanitarian catastrophe after nearly two years of warfare.
Mr. Netanyahu mentioned that he sent a team to the Qatari capital with “clear instructions” to achieve an agreement “under the conditions we have agreed upon.”
He had previously indicated that Hamas’s response to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, relayed through Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries, contained “unacceptable” demands.
Netanyahu’s ‘important mission’
Two Palestinian sources close to the negotiations had earlier informed AFP that the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release ten living hostages and various bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
However, they added that the group was also requesting specific conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, assurances against renewed fighting during negotiations, and the reinstatement of the UN-led aid distribution system.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described Mr. Netanyahu’s task in Washington as an “important mission” aimed at “advancing a deal to bring all our hostages home.”
A child cools off with water as an aid truck distributes water to displaced Palestinians in Gaza City.
The White House reported that Mr. Trump is set to meet the Israeli premier at 11:30 PM Irish time, without the usual presence of journalists.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the 2023 attack, 49 remain held in Gaza, including 27 that the Israeli military claims are deceased.
Following Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered a large-scale Israeli offensive, mediators have facilitated two temporary pauses in hostilities, enabling the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.
Recent attempts to establish a new truce have repeatedly faltered, primarily due to Israel’s dismissal of Hamas’s demand for a permanent ceasefire.
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In Gaza, the civil defense agency reported that Israeli forces killed at least 12 individuals today, including six in a clinic serving people displaced by the conflict.
Media restrictions in Gaza and challenges in accessing various areas have prevented AFP from independently verifying the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.
The Israeli military did not respond immediately to an AFP request for comment.
Salman Qudum, who recounted his survival from the attack on the clinic in Gaza City, stated: “We don’t know where to go or what to do.”
Qudum urged negotiators and mediators in Doha to “apply pressure” to secure a ceasefire “because the people can’t endure this any longer.”
In a statement today, the military announced that it had targeted “dozens of terrorists, weapons depots, observation posts, military buildings and other terror infrastructures” throughout Gaza in the last 24 hours.
The conflict has created dire humanitarian conditions for over two million residents in Gaza.
A US- and Israel-backed organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, initiated food distribution efforts in the territory in late May, following Israel’s partial lift of a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries.
However, its operations have faced disarray, with multiple reports of aid seekers being killed near its facilities while waiting for rations.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in 1,219 fatalities, predominantly civilians, as per an AFP tally relying on Israeli official data.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has claimed at least 57,523 lives in Gaza, also predominantly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. The United Nations recognizes these figures as reliable.
