First indirect Hamas-Israel ceasefire talks ended inconclusively, Palestinian sources say
The talks resumed on Sunday, ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's third visit to the White House since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to power nearly six months ago.
'After the first session of indirect negotiations in Doha, the Israeli delegation is not sufficiently authorized ... to reach an agreement with Hamas, as it has no real powers,' the sources told Reuters.
Netanyahu said, before his departure to Washington, that Israeli negotiators taking part in the ceasefire talks have clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire agreement under conditions that Israel has accepted.
On Saturday evening, crowds gathered at a public square in Tel Aviv near the defence ministry headquarters to call for a ceasefire deal and the return of around 50 hostages still held in Gaza. The demonstrators waved Israeli flags, chanted and carried posters with photos of the hostages.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Around 20 of the remaining hostages are believed to be still alive. A majority of the original hostages have been freed through diplomatic negotiations, though the Israeli military has also recovered some.
Gaza's health ministry says Israel's retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, displaced the population, mostly within Gaza, and left the territory in ruins.
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Malay Mail
28 minutes ago
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South Korea's economy is already on the brink of recession, with GDP growth forecast slashed to below 1 per cent. In this climate, Trump's tariff threats feel less like policy and more like economic coercion. The threat of 25 per cent tariffs on Malaysia is particularly puzzling, given its relatively balanced trade profile and longstanding ties with the US If this is how allies are treated, what hope do adversaries have? Yet, therein lies Trump's logic. His trade doctrine is not about punishing enemies and rewarding friends. It's about extracting maximum advantage from everyone, especially those who've taken the US market for granted, in his view. A 3D-printed figure of US President Donald Trump, a US flag and a "tariffs" label are seen in this illustration taken April 10, 2025. — Reuters pic Conclusion: Strategy in the shifting sands Why does Trump keep moving the goalposts? Because in doing so, he retains total narrative control. Every extension feels like a reprieve. Every shortening feels like a warning. It is diplomacy by way of disruption, and economic policy dressed up as theater. But make no mistake — beneath the chaos lies a cold calculation. Trump's shifting deadlines are not a sign of indecision, but of strategic opportunism. Whether or not countries like Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea will bow to this timeline remains to be seen. What is clear is that in Trump's world, time itself is a tariff — measured not in days, but in leverage. * Phar Kim Beng is the Director of the Institute of Internationalization and Asean Studies (IINTAS) and Professor of Asean Studies in International Islamic University of Malaysia. He writes frequently on regional trade, diplomacy, and international strategy. ** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
