• Hamas officials absent from closed-door meeting
• UK says dialogue ‘crucial moment for global stability’
• Abbas tells Turkish parliament he will go to Gaza

DOHA: A new round of Gaza ceasefire talks was underway in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday afternoon, officials said, with Israel’s spy chief joining his US and Egyptian counterparts and Qatar’s prime minister for the closed-door meeting.

The talks began as Gaza health officials reported separately that the death toll in the Palestinian enclave had surpassed 40,000 people, a threshold reached after more than ten months of fighting.

The round of negotiations, an effort to end the bloodshed in Gaza and bring 115 Israeli and foreign prisoners home, were put together as Iran appeared on the point of retaliating against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby confirmed that talks had officially begun but cautioned that they were unlikely to produce an agreement on Thursday and would likely continue on Friday.

Hamas officials, who have accused Israel of stalling, did not join Thursday’s talks. However, mediators planned to consult with Hamas’ Doha-based negotiating team after the meeting, the official briefed on the talks told Reuters.

Israel’s delegation includes spy chief David Barnea, head of the domestic security service Ronen Bar, and senior military official Nitzan Alon, defence officials said on Wednesday.

CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk represented Washington at the talks, convened by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulra­h­man Al Thani, with Egypt’s intellige­nce chief Abbas Kamel also in Doha.

UK foreign minister David Lammy said the ceasefire talks represent a “crucial moment for global stability” that could “define the future of the Middle East”.

Abbas to visit Gaza

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas told a special session of the Turkish parliament on Thursday that he would travel to Gaza. “I have decided to go to Gaza with other brothers from the Palestinian leadership,” Abbas said to applause from Turkish lawmakers.

“I will do that,” Abbas said in remarks translated into Turkish from Arabic. “Even if this would cost my life. Our life is not more worthy than the life of a child.”

Abbas said the Palestinian people would stand tall despite the Israeli strikes. “Gaza is ours as a whole. We don’t accept any solution that would divide our territories,” he told the parliament.

Gaps, disputes

A source in the Israeli negotiating team said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has allowed significant leeway on a few of the substantial disputes.

Gaps include the presence of Israeli troops in Gaza, the sequencing of a prisoner release and restrictions on the free movement of civilians from southern to northern Gaza.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Thursday the group is committed to the negotiation process and urged mediators to secure Israel’s commitment to a proposal Hamas agreed to in early July, which he said would end the war and required a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2024