Gaza: Israel and Hamas apparently want to negotiate again

The Israeli government sees movement at Hamas through the beginning of the new major offensive in the Gaza strip. The Islamists would have announced that the negotiations on an agreement on the release of hostages and a ceasefire with Israel said, Minister of Defense Israel Katz said. “With the start of the” Gideon’s Chariots “operation in the Gaza Strip, which the army carries out with great strength, the Hamas delegation in Doha announced a return to the negotiations on a hostage agreement,” the statement said.

Hamas confirmed a new round of talks with Israel via a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The high-ranking official Mahmud Mardawi announced that the conversations were conducted under Qatarian and US mediation. He said that the negotiations would take place without priority and did not based on former Israeli suggestions. Israel gave no further information on the modalities of the talks in Doha.

A team of Israeli negotiators had already landed in Katar’s capital at the beginning of the week. The indirect conversations between Israel and Islamist terrorist organization Hamas have been stalling for months. There are still many issues between the warring parties. Most recently, it was unclear whether the talks in Doha would burst and the delegations from Israel and the Hamas Doha would leave.

At night, the Israeli military announced that he had initiated the new offensive. According to its own statements, the aim of the Israeli government is to increase the pressure on Hamas in order to release the hostages that are still held in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that they wanted to completely smash Hamas as part of the offensive.