Hamas and Israel resumed indirect ceasefire talks in Qatar yesterday, a Palestinian official said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Washington to meet President Donald Trump, who has pushed for a "deal this week" between the foes.
Ahead of Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to office this year, the US president said there was a "good chance" of reaching an agreement. "We've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out," he told journalists.
In Gaza, the territory's civil defence agency reported 24 people killed in gunfire or airstrikes yesterday, reports Al Jazeera online.
In the occupied West Bank, two Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli soldiers after they surrounded a house in the village of Salem, east of Nablus city in the northern West Bank, according to a Palestinian official and eyewitnesses.
Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian Authority's governor of Nablus, identified the victims as 37-year-old Wissam Ishtayeh and 23-year-old Qusai Nasser.
Netanyahu also said he dispatched the team to Doha with "clear instructions" to reach an agreement "under the conditions that we have agreed to".
He previously said Hamas's response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal, conveyed through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, contained "unacceptable" demands.
Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions had earlier told AFP the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel's withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.
Israel's campaign has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
