New round of Gaza ceasefire talks to start on Thursday

It is not yet clear if the Palestinian group Hamas will join the high-stakes talks in the Qatari capital on Thursday.

However, the US Department of State says Doha has assured Washington that Hamas will be represented.

Hamas has voiced scepticism about the chances of the talks delivering real results, blaming Israel for stalling the talks, as nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Tel Aviv in 10 months of war.

“Going to new negotiations allows the occupation to impose new conditions and employ the maze of negotiation to conduct more massacres,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told the Reuters news agency.

The group wants mediators to go back to the original framework for a deal that was presented by US President Joe Biden in May.

Meanwhile, Israel’s prime minister has confirmed an Israeli team will attend Thursday’s talks in Doha, a statement said on Wednesday.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the departure of the Israeli delegation to Doha tomorrow, as well as the mandate for conducting the negotiations,” a statement from his office added.

Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, Nitzan Alon and Ophir Falk will make up the Israeli delegation, Omer Dostri, spokesperson for Netanyahu, told the AFP news agency.

Alon coordinates issues related to the captives, and Falk is a political adviser to Netanyahu.

The renewed talks follow appeals by the mediating nations, who have warned of a regional conflagration if the 10-month assault on Gaza continues.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that CIA director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will represent the US at the ceasefire talks.

Jean-Pierre added the US expects the talks to go ahead as planned even if Hamas does not attend.