Israel sends delegation to Qatar for talks on hostages, ceasefire

JERUSALEM: An Israeli delegation left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to head to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump.

Public pressure is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire and end the war in Gaza, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. Others, including Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, have expressed support.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a "positive spirit", a few days after Trump said Israel had agreed "to the necessary conditions to finalize" a 60-day truce.


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.

Netanyahu's office also said in a statement that changes sought by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal were "not acceptable to Israel". However, his office said the delegation would still fly to Qatar to "continue efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to".

Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump on Monday, has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a demand the militant group has so far refused to discuss.

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.

Some family members of those held in Gaza who had joined the protests said they were concerned that the deal might not return all the hostages immediately.

"I think unfortunately, it's going to be a partial deal, but what Prime Minister Netanyahu and all the team keep on saying is that (it) is not a partial deal," said Dalia Cusnir, the sister-in-law of one of the hostages.

"We are afraid but we understand that if this is what we have and this is how we can save lives, we will embrace it and hope and keep working so all the hostages are back," she added.

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 the population, mostly within Gaza, and left the territory in ruins.

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.