Israel to send delegation to Qatar for Gaza talks: PM

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Israel to send delegation to Qatar for Gaza talks: PM

2025-05-13 16:18 Last Updated At：05-14 00:57

An Israeli delegation will travel to Qatar's Doha on Tuesday for talks on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced Monday.

In a statement, Netanyahu said the negotiations will take place "only under fire", reiterating his government's policy of continuing military pressure during talks.

The announcement followed a meeting in Jerusalem between Netanyahu, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

According to Netanyahu's office, the meeting focused on advancing a hostage release agreement before Israel launches a planned expanded military operation in Gaza, which will involve intensifying raids, seizing and occupying areas in Gaza, and displacing the enclave's population to a narrow area in the south.

After the meeting, Netanyahu spoke by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump and thanked him for helping secure the release of Edan Alexander, an Israeli-U.S. hostage who Hamas said had been freed on Monday as part of efforts to secure a ceasefire and reopen border crossings for aid delivery.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and head of the group's negotiating team, said in a statement that Hamas is prepared to begin intensive negotiations immediately and engage seriously in talks aimed at ending the war, reaching a prisoner exchange deal, carrying out reconstruction, ending the blockade, and establishing an independent, professional body to govern the Gaza Strip to ensure that the region stays calm and stable for many years to come.

According to Gaza's health authorities, Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 52,862 people since October 2023. 　

The United States informed Israel on Sunday that Hamas would release Alexander, a U.S. born soldier in the Israeli army, who was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, in a Hamas-led raid on southern Israel that resulted in the kidnapping of 251 people and the killing of about 1,200 others.

Alexander is the last surviving hostage with U.S. citizenship, out of the remaining 59 hostages in Gaza, of whom Israel believes at least 21 are still alive.

Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 70,925: health authorities

The combined number of deaths and injuries in the Gaza Strip has surpassed 240,000 since the conflict between Hamas and Israel erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Gaza's health authorities on Saturday.

The data showed that over the past 48 hours, 13 bodies were brought to Gaza hospitals -- six newly reported fatalities and seven recovered from the rubble -- bringing the overall death toll to 70,925, with 171,185 people injured.

The authorities said that 401 Palestinians in the enclave have been killed and 1,108 others injured by Israeli attacks since the ceasefire agreement took effect on Oct. 10.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains fragile, even as the immediate threat of famine has eased.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that around 1.6 million people -- more than 75 percent of Gaza's population -- are projected to face extreme levels of acute food insecurity and critical risks of malnutrition.