Mediators push updated Gaza truce offer, hope for deal next week, as Doha talks break
Biden says sides closer than ever to a deal after progress made in two days of talks, but Hamas rejects what it calls ‘new conditions’ from Israel; Netanyahu to meet Blinken Monday
High-stakes talks aimed at halting fighting in Gaza and freeing hostages held there for over 10 months paused after two days of progress Friday, mediators said, sounding a hopeful tone as they presented a revised proposal to close gaps remaining between Israel and Hamas.
US President Joe Biden said work remained to be done but negotiators were closer to a deal than ever, even as Hamas, which did not participate in the discussions, appeared to reject what it said were “new conditions.”
In Gaza, the Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders and reduced the borders of a safe zone after rockets were fired from there, warning civilians to flee as it readied new offensives in parts of the enclave, despite pleas from the international community to avoid actions that could undermine truce efforts.
Talks between Israeli negotiators and mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar began Thursday in Doha and continued Friday, with a joint statement from the three mediating countries describing the summit as constructive. The US, backed by Egypt and Qatar, presented a new document to Israel and Hamas that they described as a “bridging proposal.” The new text, the statement said, “builds on areas of agreement over the past week, and bridges remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal.”
The statement added that negotiators will reconvene in Cairo to finalize a deal by the end of next week.
“We are closer than we’ve ever been” to an agreement, Biden told reporters at the White House Friday after talks broke. He said a ceasefire was “much, much closer than it was three days ago.”
“We may have something,” Biden added. “But we’re not there yet.”
An Israeli official said its delegation in Doha was heading home later on Friday and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, slated to fly to the region early next week, on Monday.
Members of the Israeli team will fly to Cairo Sunday to work out remaining issues ahead of the summit, Channel 12 news reported.
“We believe coming out of Doha this is a positive step forward, but it is just a step forward. There’s an awful lot of work that still needs to be done,” said White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on television.
In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu thanked the mediators for their efforts to push Hamas toward a deal.
“Israel hopes their pressure will lead Hamas to accept the principles of [Israel’s] May 27 [proposal], so the details of the agreement will be able to be implemented,” he said.
The Israeli delegation included spy chief David Barnea, Shin Bet security service head Ronen Bar and the military’s hostages chief Nitzan Alon.
The White House sent CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel also took part.
Mediators said the revised proposal is consistent with the principles of an offer laid out by Biden in late May and with UN Security Council Resolution 2735.
Biden’s May proposal, which was based on Israel’s May 27 offer, called for a three-phase plan that would result in the release of all hostages, the end of the war, and a rebuilding of the Gaza Strip without Hamas in power.
The principles of the deal were endorsed by the Security Council in a resolution passed in June.
Hamas formally sat out the Doha talks, but met with mediators afterward for consultations, with senior Hamas officials rejecting the proposal and alleging that it strayed significantly from its offer put forward in early July.
The terror group said the proposal included “new conditions” from Israel, including a long-standing demand to keep troops along the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent smuggling.
Israel “did not abide by what was agreed upon” in earlier talks, Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq told Reuters.
An informed source told AFP that Hamas demands “a complete ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Strip, a normal return of the displaced and an exchange deal” without restrictions.
War broke out between Israel and Hamas on October 7 when thousands led by the terror group infiltrated Israel from Gaza, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251. It is believed that 111 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 24 hostages have also been recovered, including three abductees mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 40,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August, and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
New IDF Operation
In a statement late on Thursday, Hamas politburo member Hossam Badran said Israel’s continuing operations in Gaza were an obstacle to progress on a ceasefire.
Nonetheless, fighting continued Friday, with at least five rockets fired from the southern Gaza Strip at the border community of Nirim Friday. One rocket was intercepted and the rest struck open areas, the IDF said.
The military meanwhile indicated it was preparing to expand fighting in parts of Gaza Friday, warning civilians to seek refuge elsewhere.
Parts of northern Khan Younis had been part of a humanitarian safe zone, but the army said it would revoke the status and launch operations against Hamas activity there emanating from there.
“Due to many acts of terrorism, the exploitation of the humanitarian zone for terror activity and the firing of rockets at the State of Israel from the neighborhoods in north Khan Younis, remaining in this area has become dangerous,” the IDF said.
It also indicated it could move into eastern Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, one of the few areas where the IDF has not intensively operated with ground forces.
In northern Gaza, Palestinians in Beit Hanoun were ordered to head to “shelters in the center of Gaza City,” ahead of a planned offensive, the army said.
A military source said hospitals in the area do not need to evacuate, and that the IDF has communicated this to Palestinian health officials and officials in the international community.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 332.
The Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
