Hamas says delegation leaving Doha after Gaza ceasefire talks breakdown

GAZA CITY: Hamas’s negotiating team left the Qatari capital Doha for Turkiye on Tuesday to discuss the “latest developments” in the stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, a Hamas official told AFP.

“A high-level leadership delegation from Hamas, headed by Mohammed Darwish, president of the movement’s leadership council, and including the negotiation team and its head, Khalil al-Hayya, is departing Doha heading to Istanbul”, the source told AFP.

“The delegation will hold several meetings with Turkish officials regarding the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations, which stalled last week”, the source added.

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For over two weeks, mediators in Qatar had been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas delegations in a bid to secure a breakthrough in indirect talks for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, nearly two years into the war.

The United States joined Israel last week in pulling its negotiators from the negotiations, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff blaming the Palestinian group for the failure to reach a deal and saying Washington would “consider alternative options”.

Hamas politburo member Bassem Naim told AFP on Friday that the latest discussions focused on details of an Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israel has resisted international calls to agree a ceasefire in Gaza, with UN-backed experts warning on Tuesday that the Palestinian territory was slipping into famine.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar called the ceasefire demands “a distorted campaign of international pressure against Israel” that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.

“It ain’t gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel”, he said at a press conference Tuesday.