by 
Jerusalem, 7 July 2025 – Israel will send a delegation to Qatar on Sunday for indirect talks with Hamas regarding a proposed Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelling Hamas's proposed amendments as "unacceptable."
The decision follows Hamas's "positive response" to a 60-day ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators from Qatar, the US, and Egypt. A Palestinian official revealed that Hamas seeks guarantees that hostilities will not resume if permanent truce talks fail, alongside demands for UN-led aid distribution and the immediate cessation of operations by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Netanyahu’s office confirmed the delegation’s departure, stating that the talks would proceed based on the Qatari proposal Israel had agreed to. An Israeli official suggested there was "something to work with" in Hamas’s response, though significant gaps remain. In Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry reported 80 deaths from Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours, including seven in a bombing of tents in al-Mawasi, among them a doctor and his three children. Additionally, two American GHF aid workers were injured in a grenade attack in Khan Younis, which Israel and the US attributed to Hamas, though the group has not commented. The ceasefire proposal includes the phased release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 others in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, alongside increased aid to Gaza facilitated by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Hamas has also demanded Israeli troop withdrawals to pre-March positions and a US guarantee against renewed military operations if the ceasefire collapses. US President Donald Trump, who will meet Netanyahu on Monday, expressed optimism about a potential deal, stating on Friday that a breakthrough could occur next week. The talks follow a collapsed ceasefire brokered by Trump before his inauguration, which ended when Israel resumed its offensive in March. In Tel Aviv, thousands rallied on Saturday to demand the release of the 50 remaining hostages, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Yechiel Yehoud, whose daughter was freed during the previous ceasefire, urged Trump to secure a "big beautiful hostages deal." Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir opposed the deal, advocating for a "full conquest" of Gaza and a halt to humanitarian aid. The Israeli military campaign, launched after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, has resulted in at least 57,338 deaths in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Mediators face a challenging task in Doha to bridge the divide, as both the families of hostages and Palestinians in Gaza await a resolution.
