Farkhund Yousafzai
Doha, 15 August 2024 (TDI): A new round of Gaza ceasefire talks was underway in Doha, Qatar on Thursday afternoon, an official briefed on the meeting said.
Israel’s spy chief joining his Egyptian and US counterparts and Qatar’s prime minister for the closed-door meeting.
The negotiations, an effort to end ten months of war in the Palestinian enclave and bring 115 Israeli and foreign hostages home, were put together as Iran appeared on the point of retaliating against Israel following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
With US warships, warplanes and submarines dispatched to the region to defend Israel and deter potential attackers, the US is hoping a ceasefire deal in Gaza can defuse the risk of a full-out wider regional war.
Hamas officials, who have blamed Israel of stalling, did not join Thursday’s meeting. However, mediators planned to consult with Hamas’ Doha-based negotiating team after the talks, according to media reports.
New round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations set to take place in Doha, involving officials from Qatar, Israel, the US and Egypt https://t.co/KDtJFBmyho pic.twitter.com/OEyEl7lxBj
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 14, 2024
Israel’s delegation includes spy chief David Barnea, chief of the domestic security service Ronen Bar, and the military’s hostages chief Nitzan Alon, according to defense officials.
CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk represented Washington in the meeting, convened by Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, with Egypt’s intelligence head Abbas Kamel also in Doha.
Israel and Hamas have each blamed the other for failure to reach an agreement but in the run-up to Thursday’s meeting, neither side appeared to rule out a deal.
In the lead-up to Thursday’s meeting, Hamas, which rejects any US or Israeli intervention in shaping the “day after” the war in Gaza, told mediators that if Israel presented a “serious” proposal that is in line with Hamas’ previous ones the group would continue to engage in talks.
