Gaza truce talks dogged by deep divisions

AFP | Gaza City

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Israel and Hamas are set for more indirect talks Sunday on the Gaza ceasefire, but deep divisions persist between the two warring sides on the terms of the fragile truce.

Mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, the initial phase of the ceasefire took effect on January 19, largely halting 15 months of deadly fighting in Gaza triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

That phase ended in early March, and though both sides have since refrained from all-out war, they have been unable to agree on the next stage of the ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

Late on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Israeli negotiators to continue the talks, his office said.

But he directed the team to base its negotiations on a proposal by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff that calls for the "immediate release of 11 living hostages and half of the deceased hostages".

That came after Hamas said it was ready to release a living Israeli-US hostage, Edan Alexander, along with the bodies of four other Israeli-Americans in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

A Hamas delegation, which left Cairo for Doha where the movement is based, said the proposal to hand over the five had also been put forward by the United States.

But the United States, the key military ally of Israel, has since criticised Hamas' insistence on that proposal.

"The delegation held fruitful discussions with our Egyptian brothers, focusing on ways to advance the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in light of Hamas's acceptance of the updated American proposal" reportedly put forward by US hostage envoy Adam Boehler, a Hamas official said, referring to the five.

"The delegation asked mediators and guarantors, the United States, to compel the occupation (Israel) to implement the humanitarian protocol, immediately allow humanitarian aid into Gaza Strip, and begin the second phase of negotiations," the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the Gaza truce.