Progress claimed on ceasefire after Hamas warning
Significant progress has been made on a Gaza ceasefire deal after Qatar threatened to expel Hamas leaders from Doha unless the group changed its approach in the truce talks, according to a report.
Negotiations for a ceasefire agreement have continued for weeks but the talks have reached a deadlock, with Hamas demanding that any temporary cessation of hostilities in Gaza come with guarantees for an end to the war.
Qatar, which is acting as mediator in the talks, along with Egypt and the US, has warned Hamas that its leaders living in Qatar will be deported from the country unless it adapts its approach in the negotiations, The Times of Israel reported.
The apparent breakthrough followed a report by broadcaster Al Arabiya that Hamas had accepted a modified version of the US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Representatives of the group are expected to travel to Cairo, where talks have been taking place, to discuss the final details of the deal within days, an unnamed senior Hamas official told Al Arabiya on Tuesday. Hamas later issued a statement denying the report.
The White House has urged Hamas to release women, elderly and wounded hostages in Gaza and to accept a temporary ceasefire in order to secure a more lasting one.
“A ceasefire is on the table today, for six weeks to be built on into something more enduring if Hamas would simply release women, wounded and elderly,” the White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, voiced concern over the lack of progress in the ceasefire talks but said Doha remained “hopeful”.
“We are not near a deal, meaning that we are not seeing both sides converging on language that can resolve the current disagreement over the implementation of a deal,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.
All parties were “continuing to work in the negotiations to reach a deal hopefully within the confines of Ramadan”, he added, but said he could not “offer any timeline” on a deal and that the conflict remained “very complicated on the ground”.
Israel was reported to have accepted the terms of a six-week framework, reached after talks in Paris, under which hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for some of the hostages held by Hamas since its attack on Israel on 7 October.