Hamas says delegation leaving Doha after Gaza ceasefire talks breakdown

GAZA - Hamas’s negotiating team left the Qatari capital of Doha on July 29 following a breakdown in ceasefire talks in the country.

For over two weeks, mediators in Qatar had been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas delegations in a bid to secure a breakthrough in indirect talks for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, nearly two years into the war.

Hamas’s team is flying to Turkey to discuss the “latest developments” in the stalled talks, a Hamas official told AFP.

“A high-level leadership delegation from Hamas, headed by Mr Mohammed Darwish, president of the movement’s leadership council, and including the negotiation team and its head Khalil al-Hayya, is departing Doha heading to Istanbul,” the source told AFP.

“The delegation will hold several meetings with Turkish officials regarding the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations, which stalled last week,” the source added.

The United States joined Israel last week in pulling its negotiators from the negotiations, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff blaming the Palestinian militant group for the failure to reach a deal and saying Washington would “consider alternative options”.

Hamas politburo member Bassem Naim told AFP on July 25 that the latest discussions focused on details of an Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israel has resisted international calls to agree a ceasefire in Gaza, with UN-backed experts warning on July 29 that the Palestinian territory was slipping into famine.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the ceasefire demands “a distorted campaign of international pressure against Israel” that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.

“It ain’t gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel”, he said at a press conference on July 29. AFP