LONDON, January 26. /TASS/. The talks between Israel and the radical Palestinian group Hamas on the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip have become deadlocked over the Israeli side’s refusal to agree to a permanent ceasefire, the Financial Times wrote citing sources.

The latest proposal by Qatar, which mediates the talks, included "a pause in hostilities in Gaza for about a month, during which Hamas would release the remaining hostages in exchange for Israel freeing Palestinian prisoners over three phases," people briefed on the negotiations told FT. Meanwhile Doha expected a temporary truce to be used to negotiate a permanent ceasefire that Hamas insists on. However, "Israel rejected [permanent] ceasefire at the end. That was the Israelis’ last feedback to Qatar," a person briefed on the talks said. An Israeli official told the paper that the country had offered a "framework" for a deal that included a pause, but it was not prepared to agree to a ceasefire. Now the mediators are working on Israel to convince it to accept a permanent ceasefire, according to the publication.

The Wall Street Journal reported on January 21 that the United States along with Egypt and Qatar were pushing Israel and the Hamas movement toward a new hostage release deal. The deal envisages that Hamas will first release all civilian hostages in exchange for the release of several hundred Palestinians from Israeli prisons. Moreover, Israel is to withdraw its forces from Gaza’s cities, ensure free movement across the enclave and allow to double humanitarian assistance. The second part of the deal provides for the release of Israeli female soldiers held by Hamas in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners. Under the third part of the deal, Hamas is to release Israeli soldiers held hostage, while Israel is to withdraw part of its forces from the enclave.

The situation in the Middle East escalated sharply on October 7 of last year after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged surprise incursions from Gaza into borderline Israeli communities, killing residents of Israeli kibbutzim and taking more than 240 people as hostages, including children, women and the elderly. The radicals described the attack as a response to the aggressive actions of the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a complete blockade of Gaza and launched retaliatory strikes and a ground military operation against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave as well as strikes on parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported in the West Bank.

In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The deal stipulated the release of Israeli women and children being held hostage in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons. The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip.