Gaza: Negotiations between Israel and Hamas Continue

Qatar assured that the negotiations between it and it on a Gaza truce and on the exchange of hostages with Palestinian prisoners continue even though both sides blame each other for the lack of progress. The talks between Israel and Hamas “are underway”, he said at a press conference given by Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majid Al Ansari, adding that “there was no development that implied that one of the groups (the negotiators) was withdrawn.” The Gaza Strip war broke out on October 7, following Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israeli territory that cost life to at least 1,160 people. About 250 were kidnapped and 130 of them remain hostages in Gaza although 33 have died. The Israeli military’s attack on retaliation has cost more than 32,300 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas Health Ministry. A source adjacent to the talks told the French Agency that Mossad officials, the Israeli secret service, remain in Doha for negotiations under the auspices of Qatar and Egypt” and that only “a part of the Mossad team” returned to Israel for consultations.