Delegations from Israel and Hamas have begun an indirect round of ceasefire talks in Qatar, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump.
Netanyahu said he thinks his meeting with the US president on Monday should help progress efforts to reach a deal for the release of more hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.
He said he had given his negotiators clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire agreement under conditions Israel has accepted.
Hamas has said it has responded to the latest ceasefire proposal in a positive spirit, but it seems clear there are still gaps between the two sides that need to be bridged if any deal is to be agreed.
For now, Hamas still seems to be holding out for essentially the same conditions it has previously insisted on – including a guarantee of an end to all hostilities at the end of any truce and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Netanyahu’s government has rejected this before.
The Israeli position may also not have shifted to any major degree. As he was leaving Israel for the US, Netanyahu said he was still committed to what he described as three missions: “The release and return of all the hostages, the living and the fallen; the destruction of Hamas’s capabilities – to kick it out of there, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel.”
Qatari and Egyptian mediators will have their work cut out during the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in trying to overcome these sticking points, which have have derailed other initiatives since the previous ceasefire ended in March.
Israel has since resumed its offensive against Hamas with great intensity, as well as imposing an eleven-week blockade on aid entering Gaza, which was partially lifted several weeks ago.
The Israeli government says these measures have been aimed at further weakening Hamas and forcing it to negotiate and free the hostages.
Just in the past 24 hours, the Israeli military says it struck 130 Hamas targets and killed a number of militants.
But the cost in civilian lives in Gaza continues to grow as well. Hospital officials in Gaza said more than 30 people were killed on Sunday.
The question now is not only whether the talks in Qatar can achieve a compromise acceptable to both sides – but also whether Trump can persuade Netanyahu that the war must come to an end at their meeting on Monday.
Many in Israel already believe that is a price worth paying to save the remaining hostages.
Once again, they came out on to the streets on Saturday evening, calling on Netanyahu to reach a deal so the hostages can finally be freed.
But there are hardline voices in Netanyahu’s cabinet, including the national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir and the finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have once again expressed their fierce opposition to ending the war in Gaza before Hamas has been completely eliminated.
Once again, there is the appearance of real momentum towards a ceasefire deal, but uncertainty over whether either the Israeli government or Hamas is ready to reach an agreement that might fall short of the key conditions they have so far set.
And once again, Palestinians in Gaza and the families of Israeli hostages still held there are fervently hoping this will not be another false dawn.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 57,338 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.