US, Israel Say Gaza Cease-Fire Negotiators to Meet Next Week

Negotiators between Israel and Hamas will meet in the coming days, as they make a renewed effort to end the devastating conflict in Gaza, according to the US and Israel.

The US is exploring different options to restart stalled talks between the warring parties and secure the release of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Qatar on Thursday.

Israel said the chief of its Mossad intelligence agency will meet with the main negotiators for the US, Qatar and Egypt in Qatar next week.

Real interest in renewed talks

Hamas has shown no real interest in renewed talks. An official of the group, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly changed his position and is prolonging the war to keep his right-wing governing coalition together. The Israeli leader has denied that and says it’s Hamas that his shown no real willingness to end the war.

The war has raged for more than a year, since Hamas fighters raided southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israel’s subsequent offensive on Gaza has killed more than 42,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

Qatar, Egypt and the US — the main interlocutors — were hopeful a deal was close about two months ago. They were working on an agreement for a phased truce and release of captives that they thought could wind down the war.

But the negotiations have made next to no progress since then, as Israel and Hamas blame each other for being inflexible.

Israel has in recent weeks stepped up its operations in Gaza, particularly in the north. Although perhaps half of Hamas’s 35,000 fighters have been killed in the past year — according to Israeli intelligence estimates — and most of its weapons destroyed, it was managed to regroup in some areas.

Last week, Israel dealt another blow to Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and many other countries, by killing its leader, Yahya Sinwar. It’s unclear who will now be the main negotiator for Hamas, which hasn’t named a new leader. Many of its most senior officials live in Qatar.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, speaking alongside Blinken, said Hamas’s negotiating position after Sinwar’s death is uncertain.

US President Joe Biden is seen as keen to make progress on cease-fire talks for both Gaza and Lebanon — were Israel is battling Hezbollah militants — before elections on Nov. 5, when his vice president, Kamala Harris, will face former President Donald Trump.

Yet Israel’s recent military gains against both Hamas and Hezbollah have left it determined to press on. Netanyahu and his ministers don’t want to offer their enemies any reprieve for now.