Israel to send delegation to Qatar to step up ceasefire talks

Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has said that the country will send a negotiating team to Qatar on March 10 in an effort to advance ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.

“Israel agreed to the invitation of the mediators backed by the US, and will send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an attempt to make progress in the negotiations,” the PMO said in a statement, Caliber.Az reports, citing an Israeli news source.

The development comes after Arabic media reports that Hamas has indicated it is willing to agree to a temporary extension of the Gaza ceasefire over Ramadan.

An Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that there is no particular progress in the talks that led to a decision and denies the reports that Hamas agreed to a Ramadan ceasefire extension.

The Office’s announcement comes as the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is perilously close to collapsing as both Israel and Hamas have both balked at entering negotiations over terms of an intended second phase of the deal. Talks on the second phase should have started a month ago.

Meanwhile, food shortages in the territory have become acute and Palestinians living there are again struggling to feed their families.

The ceasefire that began in mid-January brought a pause in Israel's campaign of bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas after its October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel. The ceasefire's first phase saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the freeing of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

But the intended second phase of the deal – meant to bring the release of the remaining hostages and a lasting truce and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza – has been thrown into doubt. Israel has called for Hamas to release half its remaining hostages in return for an extension of the ceasefire and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.

Since March 2, Israel has barred all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza for some 2 million people, demanding Hamas accept the revised deal.

By Khagan Isayev