Israel and Hamas began the second day of indirect talks in Qatar on Monday, aimed at securing a ceasefire and captive deal in Gaza ahead of a key meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, Al Jazeera reported.
The latest round of negotiations commenced Sunday in Doha, with mediators working to broker a truce and the release of captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. US President Trump has said that a deal could be reached this week.
Before departing for the United States on Sunday, Netanyahu said that Israeli negotiators had been given clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire under conditions that Israel has accepted. “We’ve gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,” he told journalists, adding that his meeting with Trump could “definitely help advance this” deal.
Of the 251 captives taken by Palestinian fighters during the October 2023 attack, 49 remain in Gaza, including 27 whom the Israeli military says are dead.
Netanyahu had previously rejected Hamas’s response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal, calling the demands “unacceptable.” The draft deal, conveyed via Qatari and Egyptian mediators, outlines a 60-day ceasefire, a phased release of captives, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza, and discussions on ending the war altogether.
According to Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Jordan due to Israel’s ban on the network’s coverage in Israel and the occupied West Bank, the Trump-Netanyahu meeting is being positioned as a “very important meeting” for Israel’s broader regional agenda. “Netanyahu cannot seem to be going against Trump’s wishes,” she said, noting that the Israeli prime minister is under pressure both from Washington and his coalition back home.
“There are disagreements within the Israeli cabinet that it will find difficult to adopt, especially on the issues of redeployment and food aid distribution,” Odeh added, as per Al Jazeera.
Trump is expected to meet Netanyahu at 6:30 pm local time (22:30 GMT) on Monday, the White House said, without confirming the presence of journalists.
The truce talks come in the aftermath of last month’s 12-day Israeli and US air strikes on Iran. Past efforts to broker a truce have repeatedly failed, largely due to Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for a lasting ceasefire in exchange for releasing all captives.
Al Jazeera reported that the main sticking point remains Hamas’s insistence on a full end to the war, while Israel maintains it will continue military operations until Hamas is dismantled.
Some of Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners have voiced opposition to ending the fighting. However, with public sentiment in Israel increasingly weary of the 21-month-long war, the government is expected to support a ceasefire agreement.
Since Hamas’s October 2023 attack and the ensuing Israeli military campaign, two temporary truces have been brokered, during which captives were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.
The conflict has had devastating consequences for Gaza, with more than 57,500 Palestinians killed, nearly the entire population displaced, and widespread destruction, according to Gaza’s health authorities. (ANI)
