Hamas: ‘Talks with Gaza truce mediators intensified in recent days’

Sources close to Hamas told AFP that talks began Thursday evening between the Palestinian movement and mediators from Egypt and Qatar in Doha to revive the ceasefire and release the Israeli captives still being held in Gaza.
Naim explained that the negotiated proposal: “Aims to achieve a ceasefire, open the crossings, allow the entry of aid, and, most importantly, return to negotiations regarding the second phase, which must lead to a complete cessation of the war and the withdrawal of the occupation forces.”
On 18 March, the Israeli army resumed its bombing of the Gaza Strip and then its ground operations, two months after a relative truce in the war that erupted following a Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October, 2023.
Negotiations regarding the second phase of the agreement have stalled, with Israel seeking to extend the first phase of the ceasefire, while Hamas is demanding talks on the second phase, which is supposed to lead to a permanent ceasefire.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, 896 people have been killed in the Strip since Israel resumed its strikes.
Of the 251 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas in the 7 October, 2023, attack, 58 remain in the Strip, including 34, who the Israeli army says have been killed.