Gaza’s reconciliation talks on the edge of the collapse, say Palestinian officials

The negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar for a new deal to terminate gas and hostage hostages are on the verge of collapse, according to Palestinian officials familiar with the details of the discussions.

A senior official told the BBC that Israel “bought time” during the visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington this week and deliberately stopped the process by sending a delegation to Doha without real powers to make key disputes.

These include the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Before leaving the United States on Thursday, Netanyahu maintained a positive tone, saying he hoped to complete an agreement “in a few days”.

He said that the proposed deal would see that Hamas releases half of the 20 living hostages he still holds, and just over half of the 30 died hostages during a truce lasted 60 days.

Since last Sunday, negotiators in Israel and Hamas have attended eight rounds of indirect conversations about “close” in separate buildings in Doha.

They were facilitated by Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al -Thani and senior Egyptian intelligence officials and were present by US envoy Brett McGurk.

The mediators have handed over dozens of verbal and written messages between the Hamas delegation and the Israeli delegation, which includes military, security and political officials.

But on Friday night, Palestinian employees familiar with the negotiations told the BBC that they were on the verge of a collapse, with the two sides deeply divided into several controversial questions.

They said that the most discussions focused on two of these questions: the mechanism for providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the degree of withdrawal of Israeli military.

Hamas insisted that humanitarian aid should enter Gaza and be distributed through agencies of the United Nations and International Assistance Organizations.

Israel, on the other hand, insists on the distribution of assistance through the controversial mechanism, supported by Israel and the United States, governed by the Humanitarian Gaza Foundation (GHF).

According to mediators involved in the process, there was limited progress in overcoming the division on this issue. An official agreement has not been reached.

The second main point of bonding is above the degree of withdrawal of Israel.

During the fifth round of talks, Israeli negotiators reported that they had handed over to mediators a written message stating that Israel would maintain a limited “buffer zone” inside Gaza, which is between 1 km and 1.5 km (0.6-0.9 miles) deep.

According to a Palestinian employee Hamas, who is present at at least two of the circles of the negotiations, he views this proposal as a possible starting point for compromise.

However, when Hamas requested and received a card outlining the withdrawal areas for withdrawal, the document contradicts the worse message, showing a far more deeper military positions. It has been said that the map shows buffer zones that are up to 3 km (1.8 miles) deep in certain areas and confirm a long -term Israeli presence in huge territories.

They covered the entire southern town of Rafa, 85% of the village of Husaya east of Khan Eunnis, significant parts of the northern cities of Bate Lahia and Bate Hanun and the eastern neighborhoods of Gaza, such as Tufa, Sherjea and Zeitun.

Hamas officials saw the map as a maneuver with a bad faith from Israel, further eroding confidence between the countries.

Palestinian officials have accused the Israeli delegation of deliberately delayed to create a positive diplomatic background for the recent visit of the Israeli Prime Minister to Washington.

“They have never been serious about these conversations,” said a senior Palestinian negotiator to the BBC. “They used these circles to buy time and design a false image of progress.”

The employee also claims that Israel is pursuing a long -term strategy to dispose of under the guise of humanitarian planning.

He claims that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s plan to move the Palestinians to the Humanitarian City in Rafa is part of a wider efforts to move them permanently.

“The purpose of concentrating civilians near the Egyptian border is to pave the way to expuls them or through the crossing of Rafa to Egypt or out through the sea,” the employee said.

On Monday, Katz informed Israeli reporters that he had instructed the military to prepare a plan for a new camp in Rafa, which would initially house about 600,000 Palestinians – and eventually the entire 2.1 million population.

According to the plan, the Palestinians will be screened by the Israeli forces before being allowed and not allowed to leave.

Critics, both internally and internationally, have condemned the proposal, such as human rights groups, scientists and lawyers, calling it a “concentration camp” plan.

With the conversations of a critical moment, the Palestinian country calls on the United States to intervene more strongly and press Israel to make meaningful discounts.

Without such an intervention, mediators warn that negotiations in Doha can collapse completely.

This is a scenario that would further complicate the regional efforts to reach a permanent cessation of fire and prevent a width humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Doha diplomats say there is still a narrow window for compromise, but that the situation remains fragile.

“This process is hanging from a thread,” said a regional employee. “Unless something changes dramatically and quickly, we can focus on a breakdown.”

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to an attack led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 others were hostage.

Since then, at least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in Hamas.