Israel-Hamas negotiations collapse
On Thursday afternoon, Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it had decided to withdraw its team from Qatar after studying Hamas's latest response to its proposals.
The fresh negotiations were instigated in part due to significant pressure from Donald Trump, the US president, to reach a deal, following the perceived success of the Iran offensive in June.
In recent days, leaks have suggested that the two sides were at loggerheads over the extent to which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from Gaza once a ceasefire began, and also how aid would be distributed.
It comes as the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating, with aid agencies warning of starvation and people 'collapsing' in the street.
Both sides are facing huge pressure at home and abroad to reach a deal.
Sources said Hamas still wants guarantees – despite guarantees from the White House – that Israel would not start fighting again after a 60-day initial ceasefire elapsed.
The breakdown comes ahead of a huge protest in Tel Aviv calling on the Israeli government to end the war and secure the release of the remaining hostages. Around 20 are believed to be alive.
An official in Mr Netanyahu's office said: 'In light of the response that Hamas gave this morning, it has been decided to return the negotiating team to continue consultations in Israel. We appreciate the efforts of the mediators Qatar and Egypt and the efforts of envoy Witkoff to bring about a breakthrough in the talks.'
Another senior official said: 'Negotiations will continue, but there are serious differences and we face difficult decisions.'
The statement came as Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's Middle East envoy, held talks with Ron Dermer, Mr Netanyahu's right-hand man, and the Qatari prime minister in Sardinia.
It prompted hope in Israel that a way forward could still be found, despite the lack of progress in Doha. Mr Trump is known to be impatient for the war to end.
One Israeli source told Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, that the momentum of negotiations remained 'positive' and that the withdrawal of the negotiators did not signify a total collapse of dialogue. However, another source said the talks were at an impasse.
Axios reported sources as saying that Hamas was insisting on the release of 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 200 serving life sentences, in return for the hostages. Earlier in the week, it had been reported that the sides had agreed on a lower number.
Israeli sources said officials had told Mr Witkoff that Hamas's demands were 'unacceptable', but that they are not necessarily final.
Dependent in his coalition on ultra-nationalist ministers who want to take over Gaza with Jewish settlements, Mr Netanyahu has been accused of continuing the war despite reported warnings from his generals that the military rationale is wearing thin.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
6 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Palestine activists must not be permitted to flout the will of Parliament
Ever since the October 7 pogrom of 2023, Saturdays on the streets of London and other British cities have been sullied by so-called Palestine solidarity marches. Too often the police have stood aside when chants of dubious legality – coming uncomfortably close to outright praise for the proscribed terrorists of Hamas and Hezbollah – have been declaimed by some among the crowds. The police have responded to criticism by stating that what has been witnessed is ambiguous. Next weekend there will be no such ambiguity. After Palestine Action claimed responsibility for breaking into RAF Brize Norton and vandalising two jets in June, Parliament voted in July to proscribe this organisation too – in the Commons, by 385 in favour and 26 against. Expressing support for Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable with a term of up to 14 years imprisonment. Campaigners are planning for a mass flouting of the terror laws, with 500 or more activists openly and unambiguously planning to proclaim their support for Palestine Action next Saturday. Their tactic is that the police will have to charge so many with terrorism offences that the courts will be overwhelmed – or else that the law will not be enforced and that it will thus become a dead letter. If trials follow, the campaigners will seek to turn them into spectacles where Israel too rather than just those accused are in the dock. This is now about more than just the rights and wrongs of Israel's response to the Hamas murderers. It is about whether the will of Parliament is enforced on Britain's streets or whether random self-appointed tribunes can overturn laws they do not approve of. It is essential that the police enforce the law to its full extent next weekend. To the demonstrators' favourite chant of 'Whose streets? Our streets', the only correct response is that the streets are not the domain of those who have brazenly come to endorse a group that our elected representatives have deemed to be terrorists. This could not be allowed to happen at the time of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and it cannot be allowed to happen in London now. It is an indictment of the state of our court system that it may not have the capacity to cope with a few hundred arrests, but enforcing the law comes first.
The Independent
36 minutes ago
- The Independent
Israel minister who led prayers at a controversial holy site has a record of provocative actions
Israel's far-right national security minister led prayers on Sunday at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, drawing international condemnation and escalating tensions as Israel faces strong criticism over the war in Gaza. Itamar Ben-Gvir has frequently visited the contested Jerusalem hilltop compound during the war in Gaza. Jews revere the site as the Temple Mount, where the biblical temples once stood. It is the holiest site in Judaism. Today, it is home to the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. Tensions at the compound have frequently spilled over into violence over the years. It was the latest act of defiance by the 49-year-old ultranationalist settler leader who transformed himself over the decades from an outlaw and provocateur into one of Israel's most influential politicians. Here is a closer look at Ben-Gvir: Why was the visit considered a provocation? Since Israel captured the site in 1967, Jews have been allowed to visit but not pray there. Palestinians consider the mosque a national symbol and view visits by Jewish leaders as provocative and as a potential precursor to Israel seizing control over the compound. Most rabbis forbid Jews from praying on the site, but there has been a growing movement in recent years of Jews who support worship there. Ben-Gvir has long called for greater Jewish access to the holy site. Ben-Gvir was visiting to mark the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av, a day of mourning and repentance when Jews reflect on the destruction of the First and Second Temples, key events in Jewish history. Visits like Ben-Gvir's are legal. Israeli media said the visit was the first time that a sitting minister actively and vocally led prayers. Ben-Gvir also called for Israel to conquer and declare sovereignty over all of the Gaza Strip and encourage 'voluntary' migration from Gaza in order to end the war and bring the hostages back. Palestinians say the migration plan is a disguise for forced expulsions. In response to Ben-Gvir's visit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the status quo at the site had not changed and would not change to allow Jewish prayer. Run-ins with the law Ben-Gvir has been convicted eight times for offenses that include racism and supporting a terrorist organization. The army banned him from compulsory military service when he was a teen, deeming his views too extreme. Ben-Gvir gained notoriety in his youth as a follower of the late radical rabbi Meir Kahane. He first became a national figure when he broke a hood ornament off then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's car in 1995. 'We got to his car, and we'll get to him too,' he said, just weeks before Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist opposed to his peace efforts with the Palestinians. Two years later, Ben-Gvir took responsibility for orchestrating a campaign of protests, including death threats, that forced Irish singer Sinead O'Connor to cancel a concert for peace in Jerusalem. Moving to the mainstream The political rise of Ben-Gvir was the culmination of years of efforts by the media-savvy lawmaker to gain legitimacy. But it also reflected a rightward shift in the Israeli electorate that brought his religious, ultranationalist ideology into the mainstream and diminished hopes for Palestinian independence. Ben-Gvir is trained as a lawyer and gained recognition as a successful defense attorney for extremist Jews accused of violence against Palestinians. With a quick wit and cheerful demeanor, the outspoken Ben-Gvir also became a popular fixture in the media, paving his way to enter politics. He was first elected to parliament in 2021. Ben-Gvir has called for deporting his political opponents. In an episode in 2022, he brandished a pistol and encouraged police to open fire on Palestinian stone-throwers in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood. In his Cabinet post, Ben-Gvir oversaw the country's police force. He used his influence to encourage Netanyahu to press ahead with the war in Gaza and recently boasted that he had blocked past efforts to reach a ceasefire. As national security minister, he has encouraged police to take a tough line against anti-government protesters. Controversial minister Ben-Gvir secured his Cabinet post after 2022 elections that put Netanyahu and his far-right partners, including Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party, into power. 'Over the last year I've been on a mission to save Israel,' Ben-Gvir told reporters before that election. 'Millions of citizens are waiting for a real right-wing government. The time has come to give them one.' Ben-Gvir has been a magnet of controversy throughout his tenure — encouraging the mass distribution of handguns to Jewish citizens, backing Netanyahu's contentious attempt to overhaul the country's legal system and frequently lashing out at U.S. leaders for perceived slights against Israel. Resignation and return to Netanyahu's cabinet Ben-Gvir temporarily resigned from Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet earlier this year to express his disapproval of the Gaza ceasefire deal. The ceasefire ran from Jan. 19 to March 1. Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in return for nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants serving life sentences for deadly attacks. Israeli forces pulled back to a buffer zone, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to what remained of their homes, and there was a surge of humanitarian aid. Ben-Gvir's resignation did not stop the ceasefire, but it did weaken Netanyahu's governing coalition. Ben-Gvir rejoined the cabinet when Israel ended the ceasefire and returned to active combat in Gaza in March 2025. Last week, the Netherlands banned Ben-Gvir and far-right Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich from entering the country. Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed financial sanctions on the two men last month.
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Hamas CAVES to pressure from Netanyahu and concedes it might now allow the Red Cross into Gaza following global outrage over hostage videos
Hamas has caved and said is conditionally ready to deliver Red Cross aid to the hostages it is holding in Gaza. The terror group, which has held hostages from Israel following its attack in October 2023, said that if Israel opens humanitarian corridors permanently and halts 'all forms of air traffic' during the delivery of packages to the hostages, it would allow aid to reach them. It comes after harrowing video of hostage Evyatar David, held in Gaza for nearly 700 days, were shared with the world, showing him bare chested on a dirty mattress inside a tunnel in Gaza. He can be seen writing on a piece of paper on the wall and walking around in the tunnel which is just tall enough for him stand up. The video goes on to accuse Israel of starving not only Palestinians but Israeli hostages as well. The last proof of life from Evyatar, who was taken hostage from the Nova music festival during the October 7 attacks, was back in February. Then Hamas published a video of him and fellow hostage Guy Gilboa Dalal sitting inside a car as they watched other captives being released from Gaza. Following the release of this footage, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday to help hostages in Gaza, as outrage built over the treatment of the two emaciated hostages. The premier's office said he spoke to the ICRC coordinator for the region, Julien Lerisson, and 'requested his involvement in providing food to our hostages and... immediate medical treatment'. The ICRC said in a statement it was 'appalled by the harrowing videos' and reiterated its 'call to be granted access to the hostages'. Over recent days, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages seized during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war. The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, both of whom appeared weak and malnourished, have fuelled renewed calls in Israel for a truce and hostage release deal. A statement from Netanyahu's office on Saturday said he had spoken with the families of the two hostages and 'expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations'. Netanyahu 'told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing', the statement added. Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people had rallied in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu's government to secure the release of the remaining captives. There was particular outrage in Israel over images of David, who appeared to be digging what he said in the staged video was his own grave. The videos make references to the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a 'famine is unfolding'. Braslavski and David are among the 49 hostages taken during Hamas's 2023 attack who are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Most of the 251 hostages seized in the attack were released during two short-lived truces, some in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,430 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the UN. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said one of its staff members was killed in an Israeli attack on its Khan Yunis headquarters, in southern Gaza.
