Betul Yilmaz
07 July 2025•Update: 07 July 2025
ISTANBUL
Israel denied reports claiming a stalemate in ceasefire negotiations in the Qatari capital and reported progress in the talks, according to an official statement.
According to Channel 12 on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that progress has been made during the indirect negotiations between the Israeli team and Hamas in Doha.
The talks are taking place in a “positive atmosphere,” the statement added.
The Israeli army told the political echelon on Monday that “achieving war goals is currently impossible” under ongoing ceasefire talks and “the priority should be on returning hostages,” according to army radio.
Hamas said late Friday that it had submitted a “positive” response to mediators regarding a recent Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange proposal.
Israeli media reported that the latest proposal likely includes a phased release of half of the living Israeli hostages (10) and half of the remains (18) over 60 days.
In exchange, Israel would free a larger number of Palestinian detainees still held in its prisons and begin partial troop withdrawals from pre-agreed areas within Gaza.
Major sticking points remain as Hamas wants the UN to oversee humanitarian aid distribution, demands security guarantees against renewed hostilities after the 60‑day truce, and seeks clarity on which Palestinian prisoners will be released. Israel, meanwhile, insists on Hamas disarmament and the exile of its leaders, conditions Hamas has rejected.
Despite international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 57,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
