Talks held on Sunday initiated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt to broker a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas were "constructive" but meaningful gaps remain, the Israeli prime minister's office said.
The Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv © Mena Today
Talks held on Sunday initiated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt to broker a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas were "constructive" but meaningful gaps remain, the Israeli prime minister's office said.
"There are still significant gaps in which the parties will continue to discuss this week in additional mutual meetings," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns and the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service, David Barnea, met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, along with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, the statement said.
It said the talks took place in Europe, without giving a specific venue.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has been trying to facilitate the release of the more than 100 hostages who remain captive after the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by militant Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza.
During a high-level conference in New York centered on the renewed global push for the recognition of a Palestinian state, Egypt surprised many observers by issuing a clear and firm call for the disarmament of Hamas, the militant organization that rules the Gaza Strip and is widely held responsible for the ongoing conflict with Israel.
Saudi Arabia and France on Tuesday called on countries at the United Nations to support a declaration that outlines "tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps" towards implementing a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
Britain will recognise the state of Palestine in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the "appalling situation" in Gaza and meets other conditions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his cabinet on Tuesday according to a government statement.
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