Hamas says Gaza truce talks in Doha ‘serious and positive’

DOHA – Hamas said talks in Qatar on Dec 17 aimed at a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange in Gaza were “serious and positive”, a day after an Israeli delegation arrived in Doha to meet with mediators.

“Hamas affirms that, in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place today in Doha under the auspices of our Qatari and Egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation ceases to impose new conditions,” the Palestinian Islamist group said in a statement.

Israeli officials

arrived in Doha on Dec 16

for talks aimed at bridging gaps between the two parties, a source with knowledge of the discussions said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to their sensitivity.

The meetings follow a trip by Mr David Barnea, who heads Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, to the Qatari capital on Dec 18, the source said.

Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has been involved in months of behind-the-scenes negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release.

But apart from a one-week pause in fighting late in 2023, during which scores of Hamas-held hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, successive negotiations have failed to halt the war.

On Dec 16, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz indicated Israeli negotiators have

“not been this close to an agreement”

for the release of hostages in Gaza since the November 2023 truce.

A senior Hamas official based in Doha also said on Dec 16 that negotiations for a deal were “closer than ever before” but warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could still “disrupt the agreement as he has done every time before”. REUTERS