The Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom reported that the meeting addressed options for resolving the deep-seated differences between Israel and Hamas, while Axios and Walla correspondent Barak Ravid confirmed that the US and Qatari sides are working on drafting a comprehensive agreement proposal that will be presented to both sides within two weeks.
This comes as the Israeli security cabinet approved a "gradual" plan presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. The plan would begin with the occupation of Gaza City by displacing its nearly one million residents southward, then encircle the city and carry out incursions into population centers, amid UN warnings of "catastrophic repercussions" if military operations expand.
For its part, Hamas confirmed on Friday that the Israeli plan was the reason for the occupation's withdrawal from the last round of negotiations, and expressed its complete readiness to pursue a comprehensive deal to release all prisoners in exchange for a ceasefire and the occupation's withdrawal.
Over the course of the 22-month war, several rounds of indirect negotiations took place between Hamas and Israel, under the auspices of Qatar and Egypt and in coordination with the United States. These negotiations resulted in two ceasefire agreements and a prisoner exchange, before Israel resumed military operations in Gaza on March 18, 2025.
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Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, ignoring international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide left 61,369 Palestinians dead and 152,862 injured, most of them children and women. More than 9,000 Palestinians were missing, hundreds of thousands were displaced, and famine claimed the lives of many.
