DOHA, December 22. /TASS/. An Israeli delegation is discussing with the Qatari go-betweens in Doha ways of striking a deal with Hamas on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Hamas-held hostages, the Al Arabiya television channel said, citing a source.
"An Israeli negotiating delegation is in Doha to find a way to reach a deal on Gaza," the unnamed source said, adding that the Israeli side "sees hope" for a deal with Hamas, despite "poor chances."
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.
During a week-long Egypt and Qatar-mediated humanitarian ceasefire in late November 2023, more than 100 hostages were released, but the ceasefire was violated by Hamas on December 1, 2023 and Israel resumed its operation against Hamas. Hostilities continue until now.
Several rounds of consultations involving Qatar, the United States, and Egypt, which has been held since August this year, have yielded no accord on the deal’s parameters.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said on November 9 that his country’s authorities had decided to suspend their mediatory efforts toward a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip because they didn’t see a desire to end the conflict on the part of the parties. On December 8, he told TASS on the sidelines of the Doha forum that Qatar had resumed its mediatory efforts toward settling the conflict in the Gaza Strip.