BBC News
ReutersNegotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal have stalled after three days of indirect talks, a Palestinian official has told the BBC.
The official said key sticking points included how aid would be distributed during the ceasefire and Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting the US and hopes of a deal had been raised as he had an unscheduled second meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff also said they were now “down to one” unresolved issue at the Doha talks and that he was hopeful of an agreement on a 60-day ceasefire by the end of this week.
The choreography of meetings between Trump and Netanyahu has given the impression that the momentum towards a ceasefire deal in Gaza is growing.
In a statement released on Wednesday morning, the Israeli prime minister said their latest meeting was “focused on efforts to release our hostages”.
“We are not relenting, even for a moment, and this is made possible due to the military pressure by our heroic soldiers.”
He added: “We are determined to achieve all of our objectives: The release of all of our hostages – the living and the deceased, and the elimination of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, thereby ensuring that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to Israel.”
Israel says 50 hostages are still in captivity, up to 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Witkoff said Israel and Hamas were closing the gap on issues that had previously prevented them from reaching a deal.
“We’re in proximity talks now, and we had four issues, and now we’re down to one,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“So, we are hopeful that by the end of this week, we will have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire.”
However, it is unclear if much progress has so far been made during the four rounds of talks that have taken place in Doha since Sunday.
A Palestinian official with knowledge of the negotiations told the BBC on Wednesday that they remained stalled.
According to the official, the impasse is due to the Israeli delegation’s refusal to allow the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza through UN agencies and other international organisations.
Israel was insisting on maintaining what the official described as “the current humiliating mechanism” for aid distribution – a reference to the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which uses private security contractors to bypass the UN.
The source also noted that Israel continued to reject calls for the withdrawal of its forces from areas of Gaza it has occupied since 18 March – when Israel resumed its offensive, collapsing the last ceasefire – further complicating progress in the negotiations.
Qatar – which is acting as a mediator, along with the US and Egypt – also warned that more time was needed for a breakthrough.
“I don’t think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, said on Tuesday.
With the talks intended to provide a path to ending the 21-month war, it is little surprise that they are experiencing difficulties.
But the Trump administration appears to remain upbeat for now, with Witkoff still due to head to Doha at some point in the coming days.
According to media reports, the current proposal would see Hamas hand over 28 hostages – 10 alive and 18 dead – in stages during a 60-day ceasefire.
Large numbers of Palestinians would be released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages.
There would also be a surge in deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
After the return of the first eight living hostages on day one of the agreement, Israeli forces would withdraw from parts of the north. After day seven, they would leave parts of the south.
On Day 10, Hamas would outline which hostages remain alive and their condition, while Israel would give details about more than 2,000 Gazans detained during the war.
As these details are being thrashed out in Doha, on the ground in Gaza at least 20 people were killed in overnight Israeli strikes on a tent in the southern Khan Younis area and on house in al-Shati refugee camp, north-west of Gaza City, according the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 57,575 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times. More than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.
