Hamas says Gaza deal talks will resume on Friday

[The Founder]

Hamas says Gaza deal talks will resume on Friday



An Israeli delegation is expected to arrive in Qatar on Friday to continue negotiations on a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza, a source with knowledge of the talks told CNN on Friday.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a meeting Friday to discuss the “mandate of the delegation,” his spokesperson confirmed.

Professional-level representatives from the Israel Security Agency (ISA), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, known as Mossad, will travel to the Qatari capital of Doha for the talks, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Thursday.

Hamas has also said indirect negotiations will resume in Doha, Qatar, on Friday, emphasizing “its seriousness” to reach a deal.

Hamas “confirms, as every time, its seriousness, positivity, and its endeavor to reach an agreement at the earliest opportunity that achieves the aspirations and goals of our steadfast and patient people,” the militant group said in a statement.

According to Hamas, this round of talks “will focus on the agreement leading to a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip and the details of implementation, and the return of the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled in all areas of the Strip,” according to the group’s statement.

Qatar has not released a statement on the resumption of talks in its capital.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have carried on even as official negotiations have been deadlocked for months as the administration of US President Joe Biden pushed for a deal to be reached.

A diplomatic source familiar with the matter told CNN in December that the deal is broadly the same as the proposal put forth by Biden earlier in 2024.

The three-phase Biden proposal in late May paired a release of hostages held in Gaza with a “full and complete ceasefire.”

The first phase would last six weeks and include the “withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza” and the “release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners,” the US president had said.