Israeli negotiators traveled to the Gulf nation of Qatar on Friday for the first time in weeks to restart contacts on a ceasefire deal that would end the war in Gaza, after weeks of stalemate in negotiations.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the meeting as a preliminary discussion to be followed by more substantive talks.
David Barnea, head of Israel’s foreign intelligence service, the Mossad, led the Israeli delegation to Doha, the capital of Qatar, where he was to meet with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the prime minister of Qatar.
Cease-fire negotiations had been deadlocked for weeks until Wednesday, when Hamas announced it had exchanged some ideas with mediators about a new way forward. Both U.S. and Israeli officials said Hamas’s revised position could allow for a deal, but warned that a lengthy and difficult series of deliberations lay ahead nonetheless.
Both sides would have to decide on the identity, number and conditions of the release of the Palestinian prisoners who would be freed in exchange for the 120 dead and living hostages held by Hamas and its allies. They would also have to determine an appropriate sequence for the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the degree of control that Israeli forces would have in the different phases of the agreement.
Most importantly, Israel and Hamas would have to agree on a formula to resolve the main sticking point that has frustrated talks for months: Hamas wants nothing less than a complete ceasefire and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, while Israel has vowed to topple Hamas rule in Gaza and maintain security control of the territory after the war.
Israel and Hamas have been negotiating on the basis of a three-stage ceasefire framework released by President Biden in late May. The two sides refuse to speak directly, instead demanding that Qatari and Egyptian mediators conduct shuttle diplomacy between them.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, a six-week truce would first be observed during which hostages would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. During those six weeks, officials would negotiate an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
But Israel’s government is deeply divided over the proposed deal, which some say would leave Hamas in power in Gaza. Although top Israeli leaders have given the green light to the proposal, two senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition have vowed to oppose it, potentially forcing him to choose between a ceasefire or his political survival.
For weeks, Netanyahu did not unequivocally support the proposal. In a television interview last month, he appeared to back away from his support for it, saying he would not tolerate an end to the war against Hamas. Following protests from the hostages’ families, Netanyahu backed off and publicly backed the proposal in late June.
Hamas faces an equally complex calculation.
Some Gazans are increasingly criticizing the militant group for launching the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war without doing enough to protect Gazan civilians. Others say Hamas is delaying an end to the war, fearing for its own political survival when the fighting ends.
And any deal would need the blessing of Hamas leader inside Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, whom Israel has vowed to kill for his role in the surprise assault.
As leaders on both sides weigh the way forward, Israel’s war in Gaza nears the end of its ninth month. The vast majority of the population is displaced, many living in tents, and finding enough food and water to survive has become a daily struggle.
Israeli forces continued fighting in Shajaiye, a neighborhood near northern Gaza City, on Friday in an attempt to root out Palestinian militants there. The Israeli military has been increasingly retreating into areas of Gaza that its forces first swept through months ago as it battles renewed insurgencies by Hamas and other armed groups.
