Hamas negotiators have begun intensified talks on a possible Gaza truce that would see a halt to the fighting and the return to Israel of some hostages.
The Hamas delegation arrived from the Palestinian Islamist movement’s political office in Qatar, which, along with Egypt, has tried to mediate a follow-up to a brief November ceasefire amid mounting international demand for peace.
Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas official and advisor to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said meetings with Egyptian and Qatari mediators had begun and Hamas was dealing with their proposals “with full seriousness and responsibility”.
However, he reiterated the group’s demand that any deal should include an Israeli pullout from Gaza and an end to the war, conditions that Israel has previously rejected.
