Qatar PM sees ‘a bit of progress’ on Gaza truce

Gaza mediator Qatar yesterday said there was some progress in talks in Doha this week aimed at securing a new truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking at a news conference, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani reported "a bit of progress", in response to questions about reports of a Thursday meeting in Doha between Israel's Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea and the Qatari prime minister.

"We need to find an answer to the ultimate question: how to end this war. That's, that's basically, I think, the key point of the entire negotiations," Sheikh Mohammed added.

Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, brokered a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza which came into effect on January 19 but which did not bring a complete end to the war.

The initial phase of the truce ended in early March, with the two sides unable to agree on the next steps. Israel resumed air and ground attacks across the Gaza Strip on March 18 after earlier halting the entry of aid.

Since then, Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 2,151 people.

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza yesterday announced that the death toll from the war had risen to more than 52,000 people, after hundreds previously listed as missing were confirmed dead.

"An additional 697 martyrs have been added to the cumulative statistics after their data was completed and verified by the committee monitoring missing persons," the health ministry said in a statement, giving the overall toll of 52,243.

Several United Nations agencies which operate in Gaza said the ministry's data is credible.

With Gaza largely in ruins after more than 18 months of war, the Israeli offensive continued yesterday.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes yesterday killed at least eight people, including a 17-year-old who died in an attack on a southern town.

Dozens of people were also injured in the strikes, it added.

According to Israeli media, Sheikh Mohammed met with Barnea in the Qatari capital to discuss a potential hostage deal on Thursday.

"The meeting that took place on Thursday is part of these efforts where we're trying to find a breakthrough," the Qatari prime minister said without further elaborating on the details of the meeting.

Hamas is open to an agreement to end the war in Gaza that would see all hostages released and secure a five-year truce, an official told AFP on Saturday as the group's negotiators met in Cairo.

The Qatari PM said efforts were focused on the "best comprehensive deal possible that ends the war, brings the hostages out and not dividing (a deal) into other phases."

Hamas has insisted that the negotiations should lead to a permanent end to the war.

According to the Palestinian group, it rejected an earlier Israeli offer that included a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.