Israel recalls team from Doha after truce talks with Hamas reach ‘dead end’

Tel Aviv [Israel]: Israel recalled its negotiators team from Qatar after their talks with Hamas reached a “dead end”, CNN reported citing a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office (PMO).

Taking to its official X handle, the Israeli PMO posted, “Following the impasse in negotiations and the directive given by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Director of the Mossad David Barnea has instructed his team in Doha to return to Israel.”

“The terrorist organization Hamas did not uphold its part of the agreement, which included the release of all of the children and women according to a list that was given to Hamas and approved by it,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that it struck more than 400 targets across Gaza in the first 24 hours following the collapse of a week-long truce with Hamas. Dozens of people are feared to be dead in northern Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp after an apparent strike destroyed a multi-story concrete building Saturday, CNN reported.

Separately, a doctor at a hospital in northern Gaza said more than 150 wounded people had arrived at his medical centre on Saturday from neighbourhoods in the area, while at least 100 others had been brought to the hospital dead.

Their families said they were victims of airstrikes, according to CNN.

The report stated that civilians have flooded hospitals in Gaza following the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, further overwhelming the medical infrastructure in the war-torn territory.

Most of the victims of the bombardments in Gaza, since the truce ended on Friday, are women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which described wounded people lying on the floor in overcrowded emergency departments.

Israel, meanwhile, maintained that its military strikes targeted Hamas, not civilians.

During the seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas which ended on Friday morning, 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity in Gaza, including 81 Israelis, 23 Thai nationals and 1 Filipino, in exchange for 210 Palestinian prisoners, all of them women or minors. Israel also allowed an influx of humanitarian aid into the Strip, according to the Times of Israel.

Still held hostage by Gaza terror groups when the truce collapsed were 136 people –114 men, 20 women and two children — a government spokesperson Eylon Levy said.

Ten of the hostages are 75 and older, he said, adding that a vast majority of them, 125, are Israeli.
Eleven are foreign nationals, including eight from Thailand, he added.

Israel launched an offensive against Hamas in Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7 assault on southern Israel, which claimed about 1,200 lives, the majority of whom were civilians. Another 240 people were taken hostage, reports stated.