Displaced Palestinians at a tent camp in Gaza City last month. Photo / Saher Alghorra, the New York Times
Officials from Israel and Hamas were holding talks to end the war in the Gaza Strip for the second consecutive day in Doha, Qatar, as United States President Donald Trump and Arab mediators intensified their efforts to broker a ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas appeared to be closer to a truce than in recent weeks, but they were still wrangling over the terms of a deal that would see the release of hostages held in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was meeting Trump in Washington today.
During previous talks, Israelis and Palestinians have seen their hopes for an agreement rise only be dashed days later, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for obstructing progress.
“There are still disputes between the two sides,” said Jehad Harb, an analyst on Palestinian affairs based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “But if they have the will, they can conclude an agreement.”
Hamas, which has a new leader in Gaza after Israel killed several predecessors, has insisted that any deal must pave a path to a complete and lasting cessation of hostilities.
Netanyahu has insisted that Israel would agree to that only if Hamas’ military wing and government are dismantled.
Here is where things stand in the talks based on conversations with a Hamas official, an Israeli official and a person briefed on the negotiations.
1 A dispute over aid distribution
Hamas has demanded that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the controversial, Israeli-backed aid group, stop operating in the enclave. Israel has insisted that the group continue to hand out food.
Since the foundation began operations in May, scores of hungry and desperate Palestinians have been killed or wounded on their way to collect parcels of food from its distribution sites.
Hamas wants United Nations agencies and international organisations to facilitate the distribution of relief supplies.
Israeli officials have suggested the UN should play a role alongside the foundation, saying that the foundation was needed to allow for the delivery of aid without Hamas benefitting.
They say that under the UN-run system, Hamas took control of much of the food and other aid reaching the territory, keeping some for its own people, selling some on the black market and restricting supplies for ordinary Gaza residents.
Hamas has denied allegations that it has stolen aid and has said it tries to crack down on looting. Some Palestinians from Gaza say they have seen Hamas operatives taking aid.
The UN and other international aid organisations have criticised the new system, saying the amount of aid being delivered falls far short of what is needed and forces people to walk for kilometres in dangerous conditions for a chance to find food. The agencies have accused Israel of turning aid into a weapon.
2 Withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza
Hamas wants Israeli troops to withdraw from most of Gaza during the initial phase of a ceasefire. Israel, however, has said it wants to carry out a more modest retreat and maintain control of a large section of southern Gaza.
During a previous ceasefire this year, the Israeli military withdrew from parts of Gaza but did not leave the territory altogether.
3 Assurances on permanently ending the war
Hamas has requested assurances that Israel will maintain the ceasefire until a comprehensive deal to end the war is agreed.
Officials for the group have expressed concern that Israel could restart the war after it secures the freedom of some of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Israel has resisted language in an agreement that would not allow it to return to fighting under any circumstance.
Last week Netanyahu suggested that the war was not on the verge of ending. “There won’t be Hamas,” he said. “We will free our hostages, and we will defeat Hamas.”
4 Hostage-prisoner swaps
Israel and Hamas are believed to have agreed that 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others should be freed during the first 60 days of a ceasefire, but they have not reached a consensus on how many Palestinian prisoners should be released during the same period. Up to 20 hostages are still thought to be alive.
Hamas has previously said it wants Israel to free the most prominent Palestinians being held, including Marwan Barghouti, a prominent political leader who is serving several life sentences after being convicted of involvement in the killing of Israelis decades ago.
It is not clear if Israel will agree to release the most high-profile prisoners.
5 Hamas’ new leader
The militant group’s decision on a ceasefire will largely hinge on Izz al-Din al-Haddad, its new de facto leader in Gaza.
Al-Haddad took over the military wing in Gaza after Israeli forces killed Mohammed Sinwar, according to a senior Middle Eastern intelligence official and three Israeli defence officials.
Al-Haddad, who is in his mid-50s, helped plan the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, the officials said.
He is believed to have said in recent weeks that he will either achieve an “honourable deal” to end the war with Israel or else the war will become “a war of liberation or a war of martyrdom”, the Middle Eastern intelligence official said.
Al-Haddad views the history of Chechen resistance against Russian rule in the 1990s as an example that Hamas in Gaza should follow, the Middle Eastern intelligence official added.
For years, Chechen fighters battled with Russian troops in a war that left the region in ruins.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Adam Rasgon, Natan Odenheimer and Aaron Boxerman
Photographs by: Saher Alghorra, Daniel Berehulak
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