The negotiations aim at a truce that will last for weeks and the exchange of hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Israel decided on Saturday that it would send negotiators to Qatar in the coming days to continue negotiations aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and the extremist organization Hamas. Officials and local media report on the matter.
Negotiations were previously held in the French capital, Paris, where the heads of the Israeli intelligence services Mossad and Shin Bet participated in the discussions, as well as the United States, Egypt and Qatar acting as mediators in the negotiations.
Israel's National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a television interview on Saturday evening that the Israeli delegation had returned from Paris.
“There is probably room to move towards an agreement,” Hanegbi said.
Negotiations for a week-long truce are to continue in Qatar, as well as to agree on the exchange of hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and his government has come under increasing pressure to strike a deal to release the hostages. Thousands of protesters gathered again in Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand faster action.
Hanegbi said in an interview on Saturday that Israel wants to free all the hostages taken in early October, starting with the women.
“Such an agreement does not mean the end of the war,” Hanegbi added, however.
He also implied that Israel would not accept any kind of agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia on a Palestinian state.
On Saturday, Netanyahu again reiterated his intention to send Israeli troops to Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Israel has already carried out numerous bombings in Rafah, where the country has previously directed people to escape bombings and attacks from other parts of Gaza. About 1.4 million people have fled to the city from other parts of Gaza.
News agency According to AFP's reporter in Rafah, at least six airstrikes had been carried out in the area on Saturday evening.
International organizations and several other countries have warned that a ground attack on Rafah could lead to a large number of civilian deaths. It is unclear where the civilians in Rafah could safely move to in the besieged Gaza Strip, which Israel has bombed to rubble on a monthly basis.
Member of the Israeli government Benny Gantz said earlier this week that fighting would continue everywhere, including in the Rafah area, if the hostages were not home by Ramadan.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is expected to begin in the region on March 10.
Hamas According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli airstrikes and attacks have already killed at least 29,600 people in Gaza so far. Most of the victims have been women and children.
Among other things, the UN and the United States have assessed the numbers of the Gaza Ministry to be in the right category.
Israel declared war on Hamas in early October after Hamas fighters attacked Israel. According to calculations based on figures provided by Israeli officials to AFP, around 1,160 people died in the October attack.
According to Israel, Hamas took about 250 hostages, of which 130 are still in Gaza, although about 30 hostages are believed to have died.
In November, during a week-long truce, Hamas released over a hundred hostages, and Israel released about 240 Palestinians from Israeli prisons in return.
Netanyahu has described Hamas's demands for a cease-fire in Gaza as strange and said he will continue the war until Israel has a complete victory over Hamas.
Chief of Staff of the Israeli Armed Forces who visited the Gaza Strip Herzi Halevi said the fighting would act as leverage to free the hostages.
Netanyahu On Thursday, the Chancellery announced its own plan for the future of Gaza. According to the proposals, Palestinian authorities with no ties to Hamas would be responsible for the civil administration of Gaza after the war.
On the other hand, according to the plan, even after the war, the Israeli armed forces would have a free hand to operate in the entire Gaza area to prevent terrorism. In addition, Israel would establish a buffer zone on the Gaza border, which would practically reduce the living space of the Palestinians even more.
Hamas immediately rejected the plan, and it was also criticized by Israel's staunch supporter the United States and the Palestinian Authority, which partially controls the West Bank. For example, the United States would also like Gaza to be under the Palestinian Authority, and it is also against the reduction of the Gaza area.
Israel's bloody war in Gaza and the occupation of the Palestinian territories have recently also been discussed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Israel has been accused of genocide and apartheid, among other things.
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