Mediator Qatar says ‘still waiting’ for Israeli response to Gaza truce proposal

DOHA: Gaza mediator Qatar said Tuesday that it was “still waiting” for Israel’s response to a proposal for a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory after Hamas agreed to the framework more than a week ago.

Qatar and Egypt, along with the United States, have been mediating indirect ceasefire negotiations throughout the Gaza war, but despite sealing two temporary truces, the successive rounds of talks have repeatedly failed to bring a lasting end to the conflict.

The latest proposal put forward by mediators involves an initial 60-day truce and staggered exchanges of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, but Israel has appeared reluctant to budge from its demand that all the hostages being held at Gaza be freed at once.

“We are still waiting for an answer” from Israel, Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a regular news conference on Tuesday, adding: “The statements that we are hearing right now do not fill us with confidence.”

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Last week, Hamas said it had accepted the new ceasefire proposal following a round of talks in Cairo.

The proposal followed the contours of a deal first proposed by US envoy Steve Witkoff, with Qatar saying it hewed closely to a version previously approved by Israel.

However, as mediators were awaiting Israel’s response to the new proposal last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had given instructions for new negotiations seeking “the release of all our hostages and the end of the war under conditions acceptable to Israel”.

In the same remarks, Netanyahu doubled down on plans for the Israeli army to launch a new offensive to capture Gaza City.

Ansari on Tuesday said mediators did not “take seriously” any announcements outside the negotiation process itself.

“The responsibility now lies on the Israeli side to respond to an offer that is on the table. Anything else is political posturing by the Israeli side,” he said.

Referring to the Gaza City offensive, he added that Qatar did not see a “positive trajectory coming out of this escalation on the ground”.