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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday authorised Israeli negotiators to continue talks in Doha to secure a hostage release agreement, his office said, after Israel and Hamas traded accusations recently over delaying a deal.
Indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have taken place in Doha in recent weeks, rekindling hope for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement that has so far proven elusive.
But late last month the two sides accused each other of throwing up roadblocks, again delaying reaching an accord.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the professional-level delegation of the Mossad (spy agency), the IDF (military) and the ISA (internal security agency) to continue the negotiations in Doha,” a statement from his office said on Thursday.
In December, Hamas had said that though negotiations were continuing “in a serious manner”, Israeli negotiators had put forward “new conditions” which delayed reaching a deal.
Israel swiftly rebuffed the accusations, saying it was Hamas that was creating “new obstacles” to an agreement.
Efforts to strike a deal in numerous rounds of indirect talks have repeatedly failed over key stumbling blocks.
In Israel, critics of Netanyahu, including relatives of some of the dozens of hostages still in captivity in Gaza, have accused him of stalling.
In November 2023, Israel and Hamas agreed to the only truce to take place during nearly 15 months of war.
The one-week pause saw 80 Israeli hostages freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians detained by Israel, with 25 other captives, mostly Thai farm workers, also released.
During their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Palestinian militants led by Hamas seized 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
A key point of contention in negotiations since the previous truce has been the establishment of a lasting ceasefire.
Another unresolved issue has been Gaza’s post-war governance, which remains highly contentious including within the divided Palestinian leadership.
Israel has repeatedly said it would not allow Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, to run the tiny coastal territory ever again.
Netanyahu has also said he would not agree to a complete withdrawal of troops from Gaza.
The October 7 attack resulted in 1,208 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 45,581 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
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