For the second day.. Doha meetings continue on the ceasefire and hostages in Gaza and mediators are determined to stop the war

Doha – Sources announced on Thursday evening that the Doha meeting on the war on the Gaza Strip will resume on Friday.

She pointed out that the mediators are determined to continue their efforts until an agreement is reached to stop this war.

This came in statements by the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, published by the official local news agency, at the end of the first day of this meeting.

Al-Ansari said, “The meeting of mediators to end the war on Gaza, which was held yesterday, Thursday, in Doha, is still ongoing, and will resume today, Friday.”

He added that “the efforts of mediators in Qatar, Egypt and the United States are continuing.”

He stressed that “the mediators are determined to move forward in their efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Strip during which the hostages will be released and the largest possible amount of humanitarian aid will enter Gaza.”

Earlier on Thursday, the private Cairo News Channel quoted an Egyptian official source it described as “high-ranking” as saying that “the first day of the Doha talks witnessed discussions on all outstanding points and mechanisms for implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza,” without providing clarifications on those points.

He added, “The discussions on the first day lasted for more than 7 hours, during which all parties expressed a genuine desire to reach an agreement.”

The source explained that “during the second day of the talks today, Friday, discussions will be completed on the mechanisms for implementing the agreement.”

Earlier on Thursday, “decisive” talks began in Doha to reach a prisoner exchange agreement and a ceasefire in Gaza.

These talks are being held away from the media in response to a joint statement issued by the leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar last week.

The meeting will be attended by the Director of the American Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Head of Egyptian Intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, and the Head of Israeli Intelligence, Mossad, David Barnea.

While a representative of the Palestinian factions, Suhail al-Hindi, confirmed on Tuesday that their movement would not be part of these talks.

The Palestinian factions demanded, in a subsequent statement, that Tel Aviv be bound by what was previously agreed upon during the previous talks last July, based on the proposal of US President Joe Biden.

Communications with the factions’ movement usually take place through Egyptian and Qatari mediators who transmit messages between the movement and Israel in indirect negotiations.

At the end of last May, Biden presented the terms of a deal offered to him by Israel “to stop the fighting and release all the kidnapped (Israeli prisoners in Gaza),” and the Palestinian factions accepted it at the time, according to Hebrew media.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added new conditions that both Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Mossad chief David Barnea said would hinder the deal.

These conditions included preventing the return of what he called “Palestinian militants” from the south of the Gaza Strip to its north by searching the returnees at the Netzarim axis, which the Israeli army established near Gaza City and separates the north of the Strip from its south, and the Israeli army remaining at the Philadelphi axis on the border between Gaza and Egypt, which it announced its control over on May 29.

Netanyahu later added other conditions, including the deportation of Palestinian prisoners with long sentences to other countries.

While Hebrew press reports recently spoke about Netanyahu’s proposal during the new round of talks to put forward other conditions that include deporting all first, second and third rank leaders in the Palestinian factions to other countries, which is expected to further complicate the negotiations and hinder the possibility of their success.

Agencies + Anadolu Agency