Sources from the U.S. and Qatari diplomatic circles have hinted that U.S. and Qatari mediators would soon revive long-hindered negotiations to end the Israel-Gaza war, but that it is unclear if Gaza’s embattled group Hamas is willing to participate.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hinted last Thursday that he expected mediators to engage “in the coming days” to discuss a cease-fire in Gaza, but that it remained uncertain whether Hamas was keen to re-engage in the long-delayed talks after Israel killed its leaders, Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwa and Ismail Haniyeh.
Israel said it would send David Barnea, the chief of its spy agency Mossad, to meet with the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Bill Burns and the prime minister of Qatar.
There were indications that negotiations could begin as early as Sunday, 27 October 2024.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has arrived in the United Kington, where he is expected to hold talks separately on Friday with the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, as well as the interim prime minister of Lebanon, before concluding his four-day Middle East diplomacy tour.
In a related development, a large, angry crowd congregated recently outside a bakery in the city of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, where it is alleged that a shortage of flour and rising food prices led to serious fighting among the population.
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip
