Israel has indicated a potential shift in its stance, suggesting openness to a deal with Hamas that would include “ending the fighting” in Gaza.
This announcement came on Sunday, a day after Israel intensified its military offensive in the territory, where Palestinian rescuers reported numerous deaths, including many children, following Israeli air strikes.
While the Israeli military has stated that its expanded operation aims to achieve all its war objectives, including the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas were reportedly underway in Qatar.
Hamas sources indicated that these talks were focused on reaching an end to the conflict, with the group approaching discussions with “great flexibility” and “without any preconditions.”
In a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Sunday, May 18, it was noted that the negotiating team in Doha was actively exploring all possibilities for a deal, referencing both previous frameworks and the option of an agreement that would conclude the fighting.
According to Netanyahu’s office, such a deal would involve the release of all hostages, the exile of Hamas militants, and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip.
Credit: Military.com
Negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have struggled to achieve a breakthrough since a two-month ceasefire collapsed in March.
Netanyahu has previously opposed ending the war without the complete defeat of Hamas, while Hamas has resisted calls to relinquish its weapons.
On the ground, the intensified Israeli operations have had devastating consequences.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that at least 33 people, more than half of them children, were killed in Israeli air strikes overnight and into Sunday morning, including a predawn attack on tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Mawasi.
Distraught survivors in Al-Mawasi spoke of losing entire families. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military regarding these specific incidents.
The escalation of Israel’s military campaign coincides with growing international concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, exacerbated by an Israeli aid blockade that began on March 2.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking at an Arab League summit, expressed alarm at the escalation and called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
The summit’s final statement urged the international community to press for an end to the bloodshed.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, protests took place on Saturday with demonstrators demanding that Netanyahu’s government secure a deal for the release of the remaining hostages.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza accused Israel of besieging the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, alleging that the arrival of patients and staff had been cut off, effectively forcing it to shut down.
The ministry later stated that with the closure of the Indonesian Hospital, all public hospitals in North Gaza were now out of service.
