International mediators held a new round of talks overnight aimed at halting the Israel-Hamas war and securing the release of scores of hostages, with a potential deal seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict.
The US, Qatar and Egypt met with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month war climbed past 40,000, according to Gaza health authorities.
Hamas, which did not participate directly, accuses Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had US and international support, and to which Hamas had agreed in principle.
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White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby called the talks an important step and said they’re expected to run into the next day. He said a lot of work remains, given the complexity of an agreement and that negotiators were focusing on its implementation.
A cease-fire in Gaza would likely calm regional tensions. Diplomats hope it would persuade Iran and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group to hold off on retaliating for the killings of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut and of Hamas’ top political leader in a Tehran explosion.
Kirby warned Iran has made preparations and could attack soon without warning — and that its rhetoric should be taken seriously.
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The mediators have spent months trying to hammer out a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release scores of hostages captured in the October 7 attack that triggered the war in exchange for a lasting cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Both sides have agreed in principle to the plan, which US President Joe Biden announced on May 31. But Hamas has proposed “amendments” and Israel has suggested “clarifications,” leading each side to accuse the other of making new demands it cannot accept.
Gaps remain even after months of talks
Hamas has rejected Israel’s latest demands, which include a lasting military presence along the border with Egypt and a line bisecting Gaza where it would search Palestinians returning to their homes to root out militants. Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan told The Associated Press the group is only interested in discussing the implementation of Biden’s proposal and not in further negotiations over its content.
A Palestinian official who closely follows the negotiations said Hamas would not take part in Thursday’s talks but that its senior officials, who reside in Qatar, were ready to discuss any proposals from the mediators, as they have in past rounds.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies Israel has made new demands, but he has also repeatedly raised questions over whether the cease-fire would last, saying Israel remains committed to “total victory” against Hamas and the release of all the hostages.
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The most intractable dispute has been over the transition from the first phase of the cease-fire — when women, children and other vulnerable hostages would be released — and the second, when captive Israeli soldiers would be freed and a permanent cease-fire would take hold.
Hamas is concerned that Israel will resume the war after the first batch of hostages is released. Israel worries Hamas will drag out the talks on releasing the remaining hostages indefinitely. Hamdan provided documents showing Hamas had agreed to a US bridging proposal under which talks on the transition would begin by the 16th day of the first phase and conclude by the fifth week.
More recently, Hamas has objected to what it says are new Israeli demands to maintain a presence along the Gaza-Egypt border and a road dividing northern and southern Gaza.
Israel denies these are new demands, saying it needs a presence along the border to prevent weapons smuggling and that it must search Palestinians returning to northern Gaza to ensure they are not armed.
The demands were only made public recently. Hamas has demanded a full Israeli military withdrawal, which was also part of all previous versions of the cease-fire proposal, according to documents shared with the AP that were verified by officials involved in the negotiations.
On Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said the broader framework of the deal laid out by Biden in May, has generally been accepted and that the negotiation was a process, which was expected to continue.
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