Indirect talks between Israel, Hamas for Gaza cease-fire still ongoing: Qatar

JERUSALEM

Qatar said Tuesday that indirect talks between Hamas and Israel are still ongoing between technical teams.

“We are continuing our mediation efforts with our partners,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told a press conference in Doha.

He cited “difficulties” on the ground related to the cease-fire negotiations.

“There is no set timeline for the indirect negotiations,” the spokesman said.

The Israeli government on Tuesday pulled its negotiating team out of indirect talks with Hamas in the Qatari capital, accusing the Palestinian group of being “not interested in continuing talks" after allegedly rejecting a US-brokered compromise.

Hamas said on Monday it is still sticking to the original proposal presented two weeks ago for a cease-fire. The Palestinian group said Israel’s response to the cease-fire proposal did not meet Palestinian demands.

Hamas demands an end to Israel’s deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the territory for any hostage-prisoner swap deal with Tel Aviv.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Over 32,400 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 74,800 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

On Monday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. While Hamas welcomed the resolution, Israel rejected the cease-fire call and vowed to continue its war on the Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli war, now in its 172nd day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the ICJ, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara