Israel and Hamas confirm that the indirect talks take place in Qatar while Israel extends the offensive to the ground, killing dozens.
Israel and Hamas have confirmed that a new series of Gaza Truce talks was underway in Qatar while the Israeli army has expanded its offensive on the ground on the besieged Palestinian territory, despite international calls for a ceasefire.
The Minister of Israel of Defense, Israel Katz, said in a statement on Saturday that the Hamas delegation in Doha returned to the negotiations “on a hostage agreement”.
Israel had entered the talks without any condition, according to Katz.
Taher Al-Nono, the media advisor for Hamas leaders, confirmed to the Reuters news agency that a new cycle of indirect talks had started without any condition.
“The Hamas delegation described the group’s position and the need to end the war, to exchange prisoners, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and to allow humanitarian aid and all the needs of the inhabitants of Gaza in the band,” he added.
Medical sources told Tel Aviv Tribune that at least 70 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday, while Israel launched a new offensive in Gaza.
The army of Israel declared on social networks that it intensified the attacks and exerted a “enormous pressure” on Hamas across Gaza, and would not stop as long as the captives are not returned and that the armed group is dismantled. Katz said Operation Gideon Chariots was directed with “great strength”.
The new offensive comes after Israel has increased its air attacks against Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians in the last three days. Many victims have been killed in northern Gaza, notably in Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, who have received orders of displacement forced by the Israeli army in recent days.
While the leaders of the Arab League organized a Gaza -based summit in Baghdad in Iraq and called for international funding to rebuild Gaza on Saturday, Hamas urged the international community to impose sanctions in Israel.
In a statement on its telegram channel, the armed group described the situation in Gaza as a “full genocide committed before the eyes of a powerful world, while more than two and a half million people are shot in the besieged band”.
The group also reported fighting with invasive Israeli forces, saying on Saturday that its fighters had killed and injured two Israeli soldiers using machine guns in the Shujayea district of Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave.
The United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said that he was “alarmed” by the extended offensive of Israel in Gaza and called for an immediate cease-fire.
La Chef de renue Tom Fletcher said that a joint plan in the United States and Israel to replace international aid mechanisms in Gaza was a “waste of time” because more than 160,000 aid pallets are “ready to move” on the border, but blocked by Israel.
Germany expressed its alarm in the face of Israel’s extended assault in Gaza, saying that it was a “deep concern”.
“A large-scale military offensive also involves the risk that the catastrophic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza and the situation of the remaining hostages continue to deteriorate and that the prospect of a necessary long-term ceasefire,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.