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Peace talks between Israel and Hamas resumed Saturday in the wake of a massive offensive by the Jewish state in Gaza — with the release of 10 living hostages and a temporary halt to the fighting for up to two months now on the table.
Officials on both sides confirmed the indirect talks among mediators in Qatar, and Israel credited its ramped up operations for pressuring the terrorist group to the table.
“With the launch of Operation Gideon’s Chariots in Gaza, led with great force by the IDF command, the Hamas delegation in Doha announced a return to negotiations on a hostage deal, contrary to the refusal stance they had taken up until that moment,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Saturday.
A Hamas official told Reuters that the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Israel is demanding Hamas agree to the hostage release and cease-fire framework originally proposed by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Times of Israel reported, citing Channel 12 news.
A new proposal discussed Saturday includes the release of 10 living captives in exchange for as many as 250 Palestinian prisoners and a cease-fire of one-and-a-half to two months, according to Israeli media.
Hamas would also be required to provide a detailed update on all 58 hostages still in captivity, at least 35 of whom have been confirmed dead.
But the talks reportedly have not progressed much, with Israel remaining dug in its demands of defeating Hamas as part of any truce, and the terror group insisting on an end to the war and the IDF’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, ordered Israel’s delegation to remain in Doha to continue negotiations on a cease-fire and hostage deal, Channel 12 reported.
Israel launched dozens of airstrikes across Gaza on Friday, but officials say that was only a prelude to a larger offensive in the region to spur Hamas to release the hostages.
The Gideon operation — named in honor of the famous biblical warrior — has already been successful, with the IDF seizing key territories in Gaza, moving civilians to the south of the Strip and preventing Hamas from stealing aid amid a food shortage and humanitarian crisis there, officials said.
Israeli ground troops advanced overnight Saturday toward Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, one of the few areas that forces had yet to gain a foothold in since fighting broke out in October 2023.
It follows strikes in recent days that Katz, the defense minister, said targeted Mohammed Sinwar, the presumed leader of Hamas’ military wing and brother of the slain former leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that launched the war.
There has been no word yet on the fate of Mohammed Sinwar, who reportedly may have been killed in a strike on a Gaza hospital that Hamas used as a hideout.
“We’re looking at Gaza,” President Trump said on Friday, the last day of his visit to the Middle East.
“And we’ve got to get that taken care of,” he added. “A lot of people are starving. A lot of people are — there’s a lot of bad things going on.”
With Post wires
English (US)