Israel to send delegation to Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a 'positive spirit,' a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed 'to the necessary conditions to finalize' a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump's announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas' response to the ceasefire proposal.
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.
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 Gaza's entire population internally and prompted accusations of genocide and war crimes. Israel denies the accusations.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
18 minutes ago
- Arab News
Hezbollah chief says will not surrender under threat from Israel
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure to disarm. 'This threat will not make us accept surrender,' Qassem said in a televised speech, adding that the group would not abandon their arms and asserting that Israel's 'aggression' must first stop.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Jordan intercepts drone carrying drugs across western border
CAIRO: The Jordanian Army announced Sunday that it thwarted an attempt to smuggle narcotics using a drone across the country's western border. A statement issued on Petra News Agency said the drone was detected as it entered Jordanian airspace and intercepted successfully, and that the seized materials were handed over to the relevant authorities. 'Forces responded by applying the rules of engagement, bringing down the drone inside Jordanian territory,' it said. The statement said Jordan remains steadfast in preventing infiltration and smuggling attempts, ensuring the security and stability of the Kingdom.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Iran's supreme leader makes first public appearance since Iran-Israel war started
Iran' s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran began, attending a mourning ceremony on the eve of absence during the war suggested the Iranian leader, who has final say on all state matters, had been in seclusion in a bunker — something not acknowledged by state media. State TV in Iran showed him waving and nodding to the chanting crowd, which rose to its feet as he entered and sat at a mosque next to his office and residence in the capital, was no immediate report on any public statement made. Iranian officials such as the parliament speaker were present. Such events are always held under heavy the US inserted itself into the war by bombing three key nuclear sites in Iran, US President Donald Trump sent warnings via social media to the 86-year-old Khamenei that the US knew where he was but had no plans to kill him, 'at least for now.'On June 26, shortly after a ceasefire began, Khamenei made his first public statement in days, saying in a prerecorded statement that Tehran had delivered a 'slap to America's face' by striking a US air base in Qatar, and warning against further attacks by the US or Israel on replied, in remarks to reporters and on social media: 'Look, you're a man of great faith. A man who's highly respected in his country. You have to tell the truth. You got beat to hell.'Iran has acknowledged the deaths of more than 900 people in the war, as well as thousands of injured. It also has confirmed serious damage to its nuclear facilities, and has denied access to them for inspectors with the UN nuclear president on Wednesday ordered the country to suspend its cooperation with the watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, further limiting inspectors' ability to track a program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels. Israel launched the war fearing that Iran was trying to develop atomic remains unclear just how badly damaged the nuclear facilities are, whether any enriched uranium or centrifuges had been moved before the attacks, and whether Tehran still would be willing to continue negotiations with the United States over its nuclear also targeted defense systems, high-ranking military officials and atomic scientists. In retaliation, Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of them intercepted, killing 28 people and causing damage in many commemorates a death that caused rift in IslamThe ceremony that Khamenei hosted Saturday was a remembrance of the 7th century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, represent over 10 percent of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims, and they view Hussein as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein's death in battle at the hands of Sunnis at Karbala, south of Baghdad, created a rift in Islam and continues to play a key role in shaping Shiite predominantly Shiite Iran, red flags represented Hussein's blood and black funeral tents and clothes represented mourning. Processions of chest-beating and self-flagellating men demonstrated fervor. Some sprayed water over the mourners in the intense of problems accessing the InternetNetBlocks, a global Internet monitor, reported late Saturday on X that there was a 'major disruption to Internet connectivity' in Iran. It said the disruption corroborated widespread user reports of problems accessing the Internet. The development comes just weeks after authorities shut down telecoms during the war. NetBlocks later said Internet access had been restored after some two hours.
