CAIRO, February 25. /TASS/. Talks on the situation in Gaza, which involve delegations from Egypt, Israel, Qatar and the US, have resumed in Doha, the Al-Qahira Al-Ihbariya TV channel reported, citing Egyptian sources.

According to the sources, members of the Palestinian movement Hamas are also present at the meeting.

After the Qatar consultations are over, the parties will head to Cairo to continue talks aimed at establishing a ceasefire in Gaza and exchanging Israeli hostages held in the enclave for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The TV channel’s sources also said that the talks in Cairo and Doha would be part of the process launched at consultations in Paris on February 23-24.

Earlier, the Axios news website reported, citing sources, that in Paris, the US, Egypt and Qatar had presented a new more detailed framework for a hostage deal to Israeli negotiators. The updated framework proposes that Hamas release some 40 hostages in exchange for a six-week ceasefire and the freeing of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The sources added that the US authorities were seeking to get a deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began on March 11.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7, 2023, after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out retaliatory strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. On December 1, the Israeli army accused Hamas of violating a ceasefire that had taken effect on November 24 and resumed combat operations in the Gaza Strip.