Israel-Hamas indirect peace talks in Doha today

Tel Aviv, Aug 28: The ongoing indirect peace talks will continue on Wednesday in Doha, confirmed the office of the Israel Prime Minister but gave no details on the members of the delegation.

According to reports in the media, Israel will be represented by lower-level officials drawn from Mossad and Shin Bet.

The Doha meeting succeeded the Cairo peace talks wherein Israel struck to its stand on the continuation of its troops in the Philadelphi Corridor and Natzrem Corridor.

It may be recalled that in the previous round of talks at Doha and Cairo, the Israeli delegation was represented by David Barnea, head of Mossad and Ronen Bar, the Director of Shin Bet.

The indirect peace talks in Cairo on Sunday ended with neither Israel nor Hamas agreeing to several compromises presented by mediators who are attempting to bridge the gaps between the two sides.

According to Arab media reports, the Israeli delegation will continue talks with the US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators with the aim of bridging the remaining gaps in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby in a statement on Tuesday said that discussions would be held at the “working-group level” over the coming days to iron out specific issues.

Kirby in the statement also said that talks have not broken down at Cairo and that they were constructive.

However, there are gaps between Hamas’ demands and those laid out by Israel.

Israeli media has reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held several meetings on the Cairo talks with Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who both led the Israeli delegation.

It may be recalled that Hamas militants swarmed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, brutally killing 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 as hostages and took them to Gaza.

There have been strong protests by the Hostages and Missing Persons Forum in Israel to bring back the hostages that have brought Israel to the negotiating table. Presently 110 hostages are remaining in the custody of Hamas, and Israel has officially announced that of this 39 are dead.

After the back-to-back killings of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shakr on July 30 in Beirut and the Hamas political head, Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, peace talks had derailed, but the US has taken the initiative to bring back the warring sides to the negotiating table for indirect peace talks. Qatar and Egypt are standing with the US to bring peace and have actively been part of the peace talks.