Hamas and US representatives have held uncommon direct talks in Qatar, two officers from the Palestinian resistance group informed AFP on Sunday, whereas lethal Israeli strikes hit the besieged Gaza Strip.
“Direct talks have taken place in Doha between the Hamas leadership and the United States regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, a prisoner exchange and the entry of humanitarian aid,” mentioned a senior Hamas official, including that the talks “are still ongoing”.
It got here as Gaza’s civil defence company reported that Israeli strikes on Sunday killed a minimum of 12 individuals, together with 4 younger kids.
A second Hamas official mentioned there was “progress made… notably on the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip” and the potential trade of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, “particularly concerning Edan Alexander”, a US-Israeli captive held by fighters.
The second official additionally reported progress “on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip”.
Hamas-led fighters proceed to carry 58 hostages seized throughout Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel that triggered the struggle, together with 34 the Israeli army says are useless.
Israel ended the final ceasefire, which lasted two months, on March 18, launching a significant offensive in Gaza and ramping up its bombardment of the territory.
It has additionally lower off all support to Gaza, saying it could strain Hamas to launch the remaining hostages.
Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, have taken place from the early months of the struggle with out bringing it to an finish.
Washington had for many years refused publicly to have interaction instantly with Hamas, earlier than first doing so in March.
Hamas has continued to insist on a deal that ends the struggle and on April 18 rejected an Israeli proposal for a 45-day truce and hostage-prisoner trade.
– Aid plan –
Despite the talks, the struggle within the devastated Palestinian territory raged on.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence company, informed AFP that Israeli jets had hit three tents housing displaced individuals within the southern metropolis of Khan Yunis.
AFP footage confirmed rescuers working at the hours of darkness, evacuating a wounded child from the positioning of the strike in addition to two our bodies, one in all them in a white plastic bag and one other wrapped in a blanket.
A separate strike on Khan Yunis killed three individuals, Bassal mentioned, whereas one other was killed in Gaza City.
The Israeli army didn’t touch upon any particular incidents however mentioned its air pressure had struck “more than 50 terror targets across the Gaza Strip” since Saturday.
While ceasefire negotiations have but to provide a breakthrough, Israel’s international minister, Gideon Saar, on Sunday “fully” endorsed a US plan to revive support to Gaza, underneath an entire blockade since March 2.
On Friday, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee outlined a plan by which a brand new basis would lead the distribution of support in Gaza, backed by Israeli army and personal safety.
The plan has drawn hefty worldwide criticism for sidelining the United Nations and current support organisations, with the UN’s company for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, saying it was “impossible” to exchange it in Gaza.
Hamas’s 2023 assault on southern Israel resulted within the deaths of 1,218 individuals, principally civilians, in keeping with an AFP tally primarily based on official figures.
The well being ministry in Gaza mentioned on Sunday that a minimum of 2,720 individuals have been killed since Israel resumed its marketing campaign, bringing the general demise toll for the reason that struggle broke out to 52,829.
Source: www.anews.com.tr