Negotiations began in Doha without the participation of Hamas with the hope of achieving a cease-fire in Gaza.

Instead, Israel’s intelligence chief is expected to participate in the new round of talks alongside his US partners, Egypt and Qatar’s prime minister. 

Meanwhile, despite the absence of Hamas, the US insists a deal is still possible. It should be noted that Hamas had made it clear that it was not going to participate in the new round of talks for a cease-fire in Gaza, while earlier this week it had declared that they were a waste of time and agreed to the adoption of the plan of US President Joe Biden.

Hamas is committed to the proposal presented to it on July 2, which is based on the UN Security Council resolution and Biden’s speech, and the movement is ready to immediately begin discussions on a mechanism to implement it, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zohri told Reuters.

Biden’s plan initially envisages a six-week ceasefire, accompanied by the withdrawal of Israeli army units from densely populated areas of Gaza.

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At the same time, it provides for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

A few days ago, the mediating countries called for the resumption on August 15 of indirect negotiations to declare a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which would be accompanied by the release of Israeli hostages held in the enclave and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

At the moment, however, a new sad milestone is overshadowing the new round of negotiations underway for the possibility of reaching an agreement. As the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health announced earlier, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began. 

In just the last 24 hours, the Israeli military killed, according to the statement, 40 people, bringing the total number of deaths since October 7 to 40,005. This tally means that one in 55 people in the enclave have lost their lives.

More than 92,401 have been injured, while the number of Palestinians buried under the rubble is unknown.

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