Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
JERUSALEM, May 18 (Xinhua) — An Israeli negotiating team in the Qatari capital Doha is holding indirect talks with the Palestinian Hamas movement on a hostage deal that would potentially end the war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday.
The statement said the negotiating team was working in Doha “to pursue every chance to reach a deal,” which would include “an end to the fighting,” the release of 58 hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave, the expulsion of Hamas militants and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip.
The statement was made against the backdrop of the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas that resumed in Doha on May 17. As a source close to the Palestinian movement told Xinhua on condition of anonymity, they were based on a proposal presented by US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff, to which Hamas made significant changes.
Earlier on the evening of May 16, Israel announced the intensification of military operations in Gaza and the launch of a new military operation code-named “Gideon’s Chariots,” the goal of which is to expand the scale of fighting in the Palestinian enclave and achieve key military goals of the Jewish state, including the release of hostages and the elimination of Hamas.
Gaza health authorities said on Sunday that 3,193 Palestinians had been killed and another 8,993 wounded since Israel resumed its intensified offensive on March 18, bringing the total number of Gaza deaths to 53,339 and wounded to 121,034 since the war began in October 2023.
According to Israeli estimates, 58 of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas during the attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, still remain in the enclave. Of the 58 hostages, 20 are believed to be alive. –0–