Israel Will Send Mediators To Talks Aimed At Gaza Ceasefire

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Israel will send mediators on Sunday to restart talks with Hamas, after the militant group said it was ready to“immediately” negotiate a proposal by US President Donald Trump for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said unspecified changes sought by Hamas were“unacceptable to Israel,” it added in a statement that an Israeli delegation would go to Doha for“close talks and to continue negotiations.” Hamas has representatives in Qatar's capital, though the two sides don't negotiate directly.

The Trump proposal, which Netanyahu has accepted, will be one of the major topics during his visit to Washington where he will meet with the US president on Monday.

Talks toward ending the war that began in October 2023 have been suspended since the spring.

A deal on the framework would see Hamas return half of the 50 hostages it still holds and pursue mediated talks with Israel to end the war. About 20 hostages are believed to be alive, and the deal under discussion would return 10 living and 18 dead hostages within those 60 days.

“The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations and discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal put forward by the mediators,” Hamas said in a statement late Friday, adding that it viewed the proposal in“a positive spirit.”

An agreement would pause, if not end, a war between Iran-backed Hamas and Israel that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, devastated Gaza and destabilized the wider Middle East.

Trump said Friday that“there could be a Gaza deal next week,” and he was“very optimistic but it changes day to day.”

An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hamas's response to the current proposal seeks changes in three key areas, including redeployment of Israeli troops in Gaza and control over humanitarian aid.

The official said Hamas's requested changes were substantial and troubling and wouldn't be easy to overcome. What's needed, the official said, is US pressure on Qatar to get Hamas to back down.

While Netanyahu's government weeks ago agreed to the US proposal, Washington and the other main mediators - Qatar and Egypt - couldn't get the sides to overcome key sticking points. Hamas had said any ceasefire must end the war and also refused Israel's demands to disarm and remove itself from power in Gaza.

Israel has intensified military operations even as it agreed to talks. The army ordered tens of thousands of people to leave the outskirts of Gaza City since Tuesday and stepped up air strikes and incursions in the northern city, leading to an increase in the number of fatalities.

On Saturday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an organization backed by Israel and the US that is trying to take over aid distribution in Gaza to keep it out of the hands of Hamas, said grenades were thrown at those distributing aid, injuring two Americans. The two are in stable condition.

It was part of an ongoing struggle to control aid, which is seen as key to power and influence in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are without sanitation or a steady source of food.

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