Talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage and prisoner releases are moving ahead and officials from Israel's Mossad spy agency remain in Doha for discussions, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters on Tuesday.
A woman walks past posters with pictures of hostages kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza, in Tel Aviv, March 25, 2024. Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage and prisoner releases are moving ahead and officials from Israel's Mossad spy agency remain in Doha for discussions, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters on Tuesday.
A small Mossad team was returning to Israel from Doha for consultations on developments in the talks, the source added.
Israel accused Hamas on Tuesday of posing "delusional" demands in indirect negotiations on a truce, saying in a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office that these showed the Palestinian militants were not interested in a deal.
In the talks, Hamas has sought to parlay any ceasefire into an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel rules this out, saying it would pursue efforts to dismantle Hamas, which is sworn to its destruction.
Reporting by Andrew Mills
An apparent drone attack - claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia - hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his U.S. counterpart that military operations in the Gaza Strip have created conditions that would enable a hostage deal to be reached, Gallant's office said on Wednesday.
A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Middle East was briefly interrupted on Wednesday when two protesters stood with signs and yelled for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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