Israel-Hamas war: Mossad negotiators leave Qatar as truce talks hit 'dead end'

Israel has pulled out of negotiations for a new truce with Hamas after they reached an “impasse”.

Officials from the Mossad intelligence agency had been in talks with Qatari mediators in Doha about a new ceasefire deal that would have seen more hostages released.

“Following the impasse in the negotiations and at the direction of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, David Barnea, head of the Mossad, ordered his team in Doha to return to Israel,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on behalf of the agency.

The statement also praised the “tremendous mediation efforts” of Qatar, Egypt and the CIA for securing the release of 108 hostages.

Israel says 136 hostages remain in Hamas captivity.

Live Reporting

Israel’s foreign minister demanded the resignation of the chief of UN Women after it took eight weeks to condemn HamasThe IDF struck more than 400 targets in Gaza in the first 24 hours since the truce expired on FridayAid trucks entered Gaza for the first time since war resumedIsrael was accused of killing two Iranian officers in a Syria air strikeThe IDF used its block map to warn civilians in Gaza to flee for the first timeIsrael’s negotiators pulled out of truce talks in Qatar after they reached an “impasse”Emmanuel Macron said he would visit Qatar to try and resurrect the talksAn adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel wants a post-war buffer zone inside GazaThe IDF said the truce had allowed Hamas to regroupUS vice-president Kamala Harris described the scale of civilian casualties in Gaza as “devastating”

5:02PM

In pictures: IDF operations today

Israeli soldiers deploy in a truck near the Gaza border

Credit: Mostafa Alkharouf

An Israeli tank rolls near the border with Gaza

Credit: Jack Guez

A soldier aims his gun through a hole in a wall in Gaza

Credit: @idfonline

4:52PM

IDF colonel confirmed dead on October 7

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) colonel who has been missing since October 7 was killed by Hamas and his remains taken back to Gaza.

Col Asaf Hamami, 41, commanded the Gaza Division’s southern brigade and is the senior most IDF officer taken hostage by Hamas.

The IDF has confirmed the deaths of several hostages in recent days as new intelligence comes to light.

4:43PM

Scale of civilian casualties ‘devastating’, says Harris

Israel has a “legitimate military objective” against Hamas but the scale of civilian casualties is “devastating”, US vice president Kamala Harris has said.

“Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering, and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating,” she said at the COP28 summit in Dubai.

“So we all want this conflict to end as soon as possible, and to ensure Israel’s security and ensure security for the Palestinian people. We must accelerate efforts to build an enduring peace.”

She added: “International humanitarian law must be respected in Gaza war; too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

4:35PM

Palestinian groups snub ICC chief on visit

Palestinian human rights groups have refused to meet the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on Saturday.

They accused Karim Khan of being biased towards Israeli accusations of war crimes at the expense of long-standing Palestinian grievances.

“I think the way this visit has been handled shows that Mr Khan is not handling his work in an independent and professional manner,” said Ammar Al-Dwaik, director general of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR).

4:24PM

Israel calls on UN Women chief to quit

Israel’s foreign minister has called on the chief of the United Nations’ gender equality organisation to resign after it took eight weeks to condemn Hamas’s October 7 attacks.

Eli Cohen said UN Women had been “shameful” and that Sima Bahous, its executive director, should quit.

“UN Women’s announcement was both feeble and late, coming after nearly two months of silence during which war crimes, crimes against humanity, and gender-based crimes carried out by the Hamas terrorist organization were ignored,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

4:14PM

Hostage, 85, died after not being treated or fed

An 85-year-old Israeli hostage died in captivity after not being given medical treatment or digestible food, his son has said.

Arye Zalmanovich, a father-of-two and grandfather-of-five, was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

“Apparently, he was not murdered by shooting or strangulations, but by not receiving appropriate medical treatment and getting food that he could not digest in his health condition,” Boaz, his son, told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

“The message I want to convey is the urgency in releasing all the captives, especially the elderly and the sick, whose time may be limited, as was the case with my father.”

4:06PM

Israeli air strike kills prominent Palestinian scientist

An Israeli air strike on a town in Gaza has killed a prominent scientist and his family, the Palestinian higher education ministry said on Saturday.

Sufyan Tayeh was president of the Islamic University of Gaza and a leading researching in physics and applied mathematics.

The air strike hit the town of Al-Faluja, 18 miles north-east of Gaza City.

3:46PM

Hostage families demand meeting with Netanyahu

The relatives of hostages being held in Gaza have demanded a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu.

They said the meeting should be held “tonight” following the resumption of the war.

“The end of the ceasefire and the return to fighting obliges an immediate update be given to the families of the hostages,” they said in a statement.

“The hostages that returned demand to meet this evening with the prime minister and members of the war cabinet, together with all the families of those who remain hostage.

“Every day could be the last day, we cannot leave them there.”

3:37PM

Watch: Macron announces visit to Qatar to resurrect truce

3:28PM

Hamas claims to have killed first IDF soldiers since war resumed

Hamas has claimed to have killed the first Israeli soldiers since war resumed on Friday morning.

It said it ambushed soldiers inside an area in Al Tawam, north-west Gaza, and “targeted them with anti-personnel devices, anti-fortified shells and heavy machine guns”.

It added that it had “confirmed that the force member were killed or wounded”.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is yet to comment.

3:08PM

Truce has allowed Hamas to regroup, says IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has a “working assumption” that the seven-day truce that expired on Friday morning allowed Hamas to regroup, spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner has said.

He added that the IDF is facing a war “that is not bound by time and the reality is one where Hamas have taken the last 16 years of their governance in order to build an extensive subterranean capacity”.

2:55PM

In pictures: Gaza today

Palestinians in the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza flee their home

Credit: Mahmud Hams

More than 400 targets have been bombed by Israel since the truce expired on Friday morning

Credit: Mahmud Hams

Injured children at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah

Credit: Ali Jadallah

2:36PM

In full: Netanyahu adviser says Israel wants buffer inside Gaza

Mark Regev, an adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, has given a press conference in which he said “there will have to be” a buffer zone inside Gaza to protect the Israeli border from future terror attacks.

We can never again allow terrorists to cross the border and butcher our people the way they did on October 7 and we can’t take our eye off the ball.

So in a post-conflict reality, a post-Hamas reality, Israel will maintain for the foreseeable future overall security control.

That will be a necessary prerequisite of any post-Hamas reality.

Now if you ask me about a buffer zone, let me be clear.

You won’t have a situation in the future where you can have Hamas terrorists directly on the border, positioned just to cross over and kill our people again.

There will have to be security arrangements on the ground to prevent that from happening.

That is not Israel taking territory from Gaza.

On the contrary, that is creating security zones where you have [a] special situation on the ground which limits the ability of people to enter Israel to kill our people.

It’s common sense.

The Israelis will never stand for a situation they had until October 7 where Hamas terrorists are directly on the border and can rush through and kill our people at will.

That is not a situation we’re going to return to and there will have to be security arrangements on the ground that prevent that from happening.

2:17PM

Israel specifically targeted Iran officers, says monitor

Israel specifically targeted the two Iranian officers who were killed in an air strike in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group has said.

“The two IRGC officers were the target of the Israelis,” head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

“They struck immediately after the pair went into the Hezbollah site.”

SOHR said earlier that “two foreign, pro-Iran fighters” were killed. It now says they are the IRGC officers.

Two Syrians “working with Hezbollah” were also killed and five others were injured.

2:12PM

Watch: IDF strikes Hamas in Gaza

2:00PM

US will not allow Palestinian relocation, says Harris

Vice president Kamala Harris has said the United States will not allow the forced relocation of Palestinians or changes to Gaza’s borders in post-war reconstruction.

“The vice president reiterated that under no circumstances will the United States permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza,” a White House readout of a meeting she had with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi read.

She added that efforts to rebuild Gaza will “only succeed if they are pursued in the context of a clear political horizon for the Palestinian people towards a state of their own led by a revitalised Palestinian Authority”.

“The vice president made clear that Hamas cannot control Gaza, which is untenable for Israel’s security, the well-being of the Palestinian people, and regional security,” the statement added.

1:52PM

IDF launches strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israel has launched air strikes and artillery shelling against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was responding to rockets fired at border posts by IDF.

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for several attacks on northern Israel today.

An IDF soldier on deployment inside Gaza

1:29PM

Macron to lead new truce talks

Emmanuel Macron will visit Qatar to “try to engage for a new truce that could lead to a ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.

“This situation requires stepped-up efforts to reach a lasting ceasefire,” he told a press conference at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.

He added that the “total destruction of Hamas” would mean “the war will last 10 years”.

1:08PM

Four now dead after Syria strike, says monitor

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a monitoring group, has said two Syrians “working for Hezbollah” and “two foreign, pro-Iran fighters” were killed in the air strike in Syria earlier today.

It added that five others were wounded.

Iran has blamed Israel for the deaths and said two of its Revolutionary Guard officers were killed.

SOHR’s death toll is an update on its earlier statement that “two Syrian fighters working for Hezbollah” were killed in the strike and seven others were wounded.

12:57PM

Israel negotiators pull out of Qatar truce talks ‘impasse’

Israeli negotiators have pulled out of talks with Qatar about a potential new truce after it hit an “impasse”.

“The Hamas terror group did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement that included releasing all the women and children that were on the list provided to Hamas that had authorised it.

“The head of Mossad thanks the head of the CIA, Egypt’s intelligence minister, the prime minister of Qatar for their partnership and the tremendous mediation efforts that led to the release of 84 women and children from Gaza, in addition to 24 foreign nationals.”

A total of 136 people remain in captivity: 114 men, 20 women and two children. 10 hostages are 75 or older, 125 are Israeli and 11 are foreign nationals.

12:57PM

IDF uses block map to warn civilians to flee for first time

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have used their new map dividing Gaza into hundreds of blocks to urge civilians to flee combat zones for the first time.

The Israeli army warned Palestinians in Jalabiya, Shujayya and Zeitoun in northern Gaza and Khirbat Ikhza’a, Abasan, Bani Suheila and Ma’an in the south.

“Complying with evacuation instructions is the safest way to keep you, yourself and your families safe,” said Lieutenant Colonel Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson.

The map is aimed at ensuring residents are able to evacuate specific areas as the war against Hamas resumes, though the UN has warned it is not clear how civilians without internet or electricity are supposed to be able to access it.

Israeli soldiers look out from the back of their vehicle as they operate in Gaza

Credit: IDF

12:10PM

Israel kills two Iranian officers in Syria

Two officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in an Israeli strike on Syria this morning.

An air strike near Damascus was earlier said to have killed two “fighters working for Hezbollah”, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The IRGC has now said two of its officers – named as Mohammad Ali Atai Shoorcheh and Panah Taghizadeh – were “martyred” by the “Zionists” while on an advisory mission to the country.

Seven other Hezbollah fighters were earlier reported to have been injured in the attack.

Israel has not commented.

12:01PM

Mossad visits Qatar for truce talks

Officials from Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency are visiting Qatar today to discuss a new truce with mediators, Reuters has reported.

The news agency said the talks centred on releasing hostages other than women and children and the terms of a new truce with Hamas.

11:25AM

Aid trucks enter Gaza for first time since truce

Aid trucks have entered Gaza for the first time since the truce between Israel and Hamas ended on Friday morning.

Reuters reports that the two fuel lorries and 50 aid trucks will be inspected before being allowed to continue further.

11:07AM

Watch: Nasser hospital in Gaza overwhelmed, says UNICEF

10:45AM

Mapped: IDF’s civilian evacuation zones

10:33AM

IDF strikes 400 targets in Gaza in 24 hours

Israel bombed more than 400 targets in Gaza in the first 24 hours since the war resumed on Friday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

Its fighter jets carried out extensive strikes in particular on 50 targets in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Israeli media reported extensive ground fighting in the city overnight and said the IDF was acting on intelligence indicating members of Hamas’s leadership were hiding there.

The IDF dropped leaflets warning civilians to evacuate the city on Friday but the United Nations said there was no evidence of large numbers leaving.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the war restarted.

10:17AM

Chance of peace gone, says Erdogan

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the chance of peace in Gaza has been lost because of Israel’s approach to the war, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported on Saturday.

“We have always emphasised that we are in favour of a permanent ceasefire rather than a humanitarian break…There was an opportunity for peace here, and unfortunately, we have lost this opportunity for now due to Israel’s uncompromising approach,” he said.

9:56AM

Hezbollah fighter killed in Lebanon

A Hezbollah fighter has been killed in southern Lebanon, the terror group has said.

9:40AM

Israel kills two Hezbollah fighters in Syria

Israeli air strikes on Syria early on Saturday morning killed two “fighters working for Hezbollah” and wounded seven others.

“Two Syrian fighters working for Hezbollah were killed and seven other fighters working for the group were wounded in Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah sites near Sayyida Zeinab,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Sayyida Zeinab is a town just south of Damascus, the Syrian capital.

9:34AM

Hamas: 193 dead in Gaza since truce ended

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said 193 people have died in the strip and more than 650 have been injured since the war resumed on Friday morning.

9:26AM

UN Women finally condemns October 7 attacks

The United Nations’ gender equality organisation has finally condemned the October 7 terror attacks after an eight-week silence.

It is the UN Women has officially condemned the rapes and sex crimes which Hamas terrorists are said to have committed during the attacks.

“We reiterate that all women, Israeli women, Palestinian women, as all others, are entitled to a life lived in safety and free from violence,” it said in a statement.

“We unequivocally condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October.

“We are alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks.

“For the sake of everyone in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and especially women and children, we call for a return to a path of peace, a respect for international humanitarian and international human rights law.”

9:21AM

Kamala Harris to call for reunification of Gaza and West Bank

Kamala Harris will today call for the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank under one government once the war ends.

The American vice-president is due to meet regional leaders at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.

“In her meetings, the vice-president will outline our principles for post-conflict Gaza, lay out specific proposals that put Palestinian voices at the centre, and build regional support for our efforts,” a White House official said.

Hamas currently controls Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority governs the West Bank.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : The Telegraph – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/02/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-war-latest-news/