Hamas announced on Thursday that it has not received any new updates from mediators regarding the ceasefire negotiations this week. “We have not yet been informed by the mediator brothers of anything new regarding the negotiations with the aim of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange,” Hamas stated.
The Gaza-ruling faction accused Israel of continuing a policy of procrastination to gain time and thwart this round of negotiations, similar to previous ones, adding that “this does not deceive the Palestinian people and their resistance.”
On Wednesday, delegations from Egypt, Qatar, the U.S., and Israel met in Doha, Qatar’s capital, to push for a ceasefire between the warring parties. For months, mediators from Egypt and Qatar have been trying to broker an agreement to end the conflict in Gaza, ongoing for over nine months, and to secure the return of more than 100 Israeli hostages held there.
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in about 1,200 deaths and over 200 hostages taken.
In the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 50 people and wounded 54 others across Gaza, bringing the total death toll to 38,345 and injuries to 88,295 since the conflict began in early October 2023, according to Gaza-based health authorities.
