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Israel-Hamas negotiations 'ongoing' for Gaza truce: Qatar

The Foreign Ministry of Qatar says that the talks are "ongoing" but there has not been "any development that would lead to thinking that one of the teams has pulled out of the negotiations".

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Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a truce in Gaza. / Photo: AA

Mediator Qatar has said that talks between Hamas and Israel on a Gaza truce and hostage exchange are continuing, despite the warring parties trading blame over the lack of headway.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al Ansari said on Tuesday that the talks were "ongoing", adding there had not been "any development that would lead to thinking that one of the teams has pulled out of the negotiations".

Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.

Since the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an "immediate ceasefire", Hamas and Israel have traded blame for their failure to agree a deal.

Hamas said Netanyahu and his cabinet were "entirely responsible for the failure of negotiation efforts and for preventing an agreement from being reached up until now".

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'Meetings are still ongoing'

Netanyahu's office hit back on X, charging that Hamas was "not interested in continuing negotiations" as it had been emboldened by the Security Council vote.

Ansari told a Doha news conference that Qatar welcomed the UN resolution, which he said had not had "any immediate effect on the talks".

The Qatari official said he could not comment specifically on the presence of Israeli technical teams in Doha but said "regardless of the comings and goings of these teams, the meetings are still ongoing here in Doha and I can confirm that part of the negotiating teams are still here in Doha conducting negotiations as we speak."

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since a cross-border operation by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct 7.

More than 32,414 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,787 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now on its 172nd day, has pushed 85 percent of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.