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Negotiators met in Qatar for the latest round of negotiations on a deal that would end the fighting and perhaps reduce escalating regional tensions, but Hamas did not send representatives.
Aug. 15, 2024Updated 7:05 p.m. ET
Negotiators from multiple countries were meeting in Qatar on Thursday to try to hash out a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, in talks that have taken on added urgency amid fears that an anticipated attack by Iran and its allies on Israel could set off a broader regional conflict.
While cease-fire talks have been held on and off for months, the United States, Qatar and Egypt said last week that they were prepared to offer “a final bridging proposal” in the hopes of securing a deal that would free the remaining hostages in Gaza and alleviate the suffering of Palestinians after more than 10 months of war.
An Israeli official briefed on the negotiations said that the Israeli delegation would remain overnight in Doha, Qatar’s capital, and that the talks were expected to continue on Friday in an attempt to close substantial gaps between the two sides. A White House national security spokesman, John F. Kirby, said the United States also expected the negotiations to resume on Friday.
International pressure for a deal has been increasing for months, as the death toll in Gaza has risen. On Thursday, the Gazan Health Ministry reported that the number of dead had exceeded 40,000. The ministry’s figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
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The United States and its allies believe that a truce in Gaza might lower regional tensions, giving Iran and its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, a reason to reconsider — or at least temper — their anticipated strikes on Israel. Iran has vowed to retaliate for the killing in Iran just over two weeks ago of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and Hezbollah has vowed to avenge the killing hours earlier of one of the group’s top commanders in Lebanon, Fuad Shukr.
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