AN Israeli delegation is heading to Qatar following a new Hamas proposal raised the possibility of a ceasefire agreement, despite ongoing fighting in Gaza.
Israeli negotiators, led by spy chief David Barnea, met with mediators in Doha on Friday, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The talks will resume next week, the office said, when another negotiating team will be deployed to Qatar.
The office added there were still gaps between parties in their positions.
The latest developments came following Hamas said it had presented new ideas to mediators Qatar, Egypt and Turkey on how to reach a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal to end the nine-month-old conflict.
At least 38,011 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, which began following a Hamas-led offensive on southern Israel on October 7 that killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.
While details of Hamas’ latest proposal are unclear, a US official said it contains a substantial change from the group’s previous position.
Read also: Hamas Discusses Gaza Ceasefire with Qatar, Egypt, Türkiye
The official, in a telephone conversation with reporters, described the update as a breakthrough, while warning that obstacles remained.
On Friday (July 5), Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said the group’s latest proposal had received a positive response from mediators. “The official Israeli position has not yet become clear,” according to The Associated Press.
Both Israel and Hamas are under increasing pressure to reach a deal, but talks around a UN-backed plan outlined by US President Joe Biden in May have stalled in recent weeks.
Read also: Canadian PM Trudeau Backs Gaza Ceasefire Proposal
The main issue facing Hamas is whether Israel will continue fighting following dozens of Israeli prisoners still held by the group are released.
Meanwhile, despite repeated US claims that Israel supports the plan, Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war will not end until Hamas is eradicated.
In a phone call with Biden on Thursday (4/7), Netanyahu once more said the war would only end if Israel achieved all its goals.
Also read: Israeli People’s Demand to Remove Netanyahu Could Stop Attacks on Palestine
Fighting continues in Gaza
Despite the latest diplomatic flurry, fighting continued to rage in Gaza on Friday, with Israeli forces focusing their attacks on the southern towns of Khan Younis and Rafah and northern Gaza City.
“At least 10 bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital following the attacks on the two southern cities,” a hospital official told Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum.
He also reported incessant shelling of the Shujayea neighborhood in Gaza City, while the Israeli military has destroyed entire blocks in the area.
Meanwhile, the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, claimed its fighters had killed 10 Israeli soldiers in an ambush in Shujayea. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the claim.
Tensions remain high along the Lebanon-Israel border, with escalating fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military continuing to raise fears of a wider escalation. The Lebanese group said it targeted several Israeli military positions near the border on Friday.
Hezbollah later said in a statement that leader Hassan Nasrallah had met with a Hamas delegation to discuss the latest developments in the negotiations and security and political developments in Gaza and the region.
The fighting in Gaza has displaced regarding 90% of Gaza’s population, forcing many to live in unsanitary conditions with little access to health services or other assistance. “Nearly 500,000 people face catastrophic hunger in the enclave,” according to the UN.
On Friday (July 5), European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic warned that this week’s Israeli army order for more than 250,000 Palestinians to evacuate east of Khan Younis would only worsen the humanitarian disaster.
“This evacuation decision will inevitably worsen overcrowding, and lead to severe shortages of supplies in remaining hospitals, at a time when access to emergency medical care is critical,” the two wrote in a joint statement.
They added that forced evacuations created a humanitarian crisis within a crisis.
“A ceasefire is more important now than ever, and will allow for a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of all hostages,” they concluded. (Aljazeera/Z-8)
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