New Gaza truce talks to continue

Medics evacuate injured people and cancer patients from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in a joint World Health Organisation and Palestinian Red Crescent initiative. AFP

Israel said Monday it had discussed with international mediators the outline of proposed talks with Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on a deal to release Israeli hostages.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Mossad intelligence chief David Barnea had met US and Qatari officials in Doha and agreed they should talk to Hamas about a deal to free Israelis seized in last year’s October 7 attack.

The statement came two days after Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi proposed a two-day truce and limited hostage-prisoner exchange that, he said, could lead to a permanent ceasefire.

“During the meeting, the parties discussed a new unified framework that combines previous proposals and also takes into account key issues and recent developments in the region,” Netanyahu’s office said.

“In the coming days, discussions will continue between the mediators and Hamas to assess the feasibility of talks and to further efforts to promote a deal.”

After Israeli forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this month, pressure has mounted on Netanyahu’s government from both hostage families and the international community to agree a ceasefire to allow the rest of the captured to come home.

Critics in Israel have also accused Netanyahu of obstructing mediation for a truce and hostage-release deal.

It should end: Biden

US President Joe Biden, asked about the possibility of a ceasefire said he would talk to Israel immediately to push for a ceasefire.

“My staff is talking to them right now,” Biden said, after casting an early ballot in the race for his successor. “We need a ceasefire. We should end this war. It should end, it should end, it should end.”