JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel and Hamas are set to hold indirect talks in Qatar for a second day on Monday, aimed at securing a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, ahead of a meeting in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump.
The U.S. president has said a deal could be reached this week. Before departing for Washington on Sunday, Netanyahu said that Israeli negotiators had been given clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire under conditions that Israel has accepted.
An Israeli official described the atmosphere so far at the Gaza talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, as positive. Palestinian officials said that initial meetings on Sunday had ended inconclusively.
A second Israeli official said the issue of humanitarian aid had been discussed in Qatar, without providing further details.
The Truce talks have been revived following last month’s 12-day Israeli air war against its arch-foe Iran, which backs Hamas.
The U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the war entirely.
Ending the war has been the main sticking point in past rounds of talks, with Hamas demanding a full end to the conflict in return for releasing all hostages, and Israel insisting it would fight on until Hamas is dismantled.
Some of Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners oppose ending the fighting. But, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the 21-month-old war, his government is expected to back a ceasefire.
The war was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Around 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are believed to be still alive.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign against Hamas has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health authorities, led to a hunger crisis, displaced nearly all the population and left most of the territory in ruins.
(Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi, Maayan Lubell and Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Kim Coghill and Lincoln Feast)
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