Talks on Israeli hostages, Gaza ceasefire resumed in Qatar: Source

Top negotiators from the United States, Israel and Qatar were slated to meet in Doha on Sunday to discuss efforts to reach an agreement, CNN reported on Thursday.

This is the first round of high-level talks in more than two months. US officials have argued for renewed momentum following Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Earlier Sunday, Egypt publicly proposed a two-day ceasefire deal in which four Israeli hostages in Gaza would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The proposal was announced by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at a news conference Sunday. Sisi did not specify the number of Palestinian prisoners that would potentially be released.

Under the proposal, if the two-day ceasefire held, the two sides would then have 10 days to negotiate a permanent ceasefire to get desperately needed humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave, Sisi stated.

Officials in Gaza say the Israeli military has not been allowing the small amount of aid that does reach the enclave to be distributed in parts of northern Gaza, where it is carrying out renewed military operations.

Dozens of hostages taken from Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks are still being held in Gaza. There are 101 hostages still held in the blockaded strip, Israeli authorities say, but as many as one-third of them are thought to be dead.

Israel has continued its military onslaught on Gaza following an attack by Hamas last October, despite a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 43,000 victims have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 100,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli offensive has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

Mediation efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

As of April, more than 9,500 Palestinians were being held in Israeli prisons, including more than 3,500 without charges, according to Addameer Prisoner’s Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian NGO. That figure doesn’t include detainees from Gaza, the group added.