Israel continues attacks on Gaza, says ‘gaps’ remain in renewed ceasefire talks | Gaza News

Israeli attacks on Gaza and Khan Younis continue as a delegation travels to Doha for talks on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange proposal.

An Israeli delegation has traveled to Qatar after a new Hamas proposal earlier this week raised new hopes for a ceasefire agreement as fighting continues in Gaza.

Israeli negotiators led by intelligence chief David Barnea met with mediators in Doha on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. The talks are set to continue next week, the office said, and another negotiating team will then be sent to Qatar.

The office added that there were still “gaps” in the parties’ positions.

The latest development came after Hamas said on Wednesday it had presented new “ideas” to mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey on how to reach a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement to end the nine-month conflict.

At least 38,011 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, which began on October 7 with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that left at least 1,139 people dead, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.

While the details of Hamas’ latest proposal were not immediately clear, a U.S. official said Thursday that they represented a significant change from the group’s previous position. In a phone call with reporters, the official called the update a “breakthrough” but warned that obstacles remain.

According to the Associated Press news agency, Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said on Friday that the group’s latest proposals had “received a positive response from the mediators,” but added that the official Israeli position was not yet clear.

Both Israel and Hamas are under increasing pressure to reach an agreement, but talks on a UN-backed plan outlined by US President Joe Biden in May have stalled in recent weeks.

A major point of contention for Hamas is whether Israel would resume fighting after dozens of Israeli prisoners still held by the group are released. Although the US has repeatedly claimed Israel supports the plan, Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war will not end until Hamas is “wiped out.”

In a phone call with Biden on Thursday, Netanyahu again said the war would only end when Israel had “achieved all its goals.”

Fighting in Gaza continues

Despite recent diplomatic unrest, fighting in Gaza continued to rage on Friday, with Israeli forces concentrating their attacks on the southern towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, as well as northern Gaza City.

At least 10 bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital following the attacks on the two southern cities, hospital officials told Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum.

He also reported “relentless” attacks in the Shujayea neighborhood of Gaza, where he said the Israeli military “destroyed entire blocks of houses.”

Meanwhile, the Izz al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed that its fighters killed 10 Israeli soldiers in an ambush in Shujayea. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the claim.

Tensions remained high on the Lebanese-Israeli border, where increasing fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military continues to fuel fears of further escalation. The Lebanese group said it attacked several Israeli military positions near the border on Friday.

In a later statement, Hezbollah said leader Hassan Nasrallah had met with a Hamas delegation to discuss “the latest developments in the negotiations” as well as “security and political developments” in Gaza and the region.

The fighting in Gaza has displaced about 90 percent of the country’s population. Many now live in unsanitary conditions and have little access to medical care or other assistance. According to the United Nations, almost 500,000 people in the enclave are at risk of “catastrophic” hunger.

On Friday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic warned that the Israeli army’s order this week to evacuate more than 250,000 Palestinians from eastern Khan Younis would only further exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe.

“This evacuation decision will surely worsen overcrowding and create severe shortages in the already overstretched remaining hospitals, at a time when access to emergency medical care is critical,” the two wrote in a joint statement, adding that the forced evacuations would create “a humanitarian crisis within the crisis.”

“A ceasefire is now even more important and would allow for increased humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the release of all hostages,” they said.