Israel says it will send a delegation to Doha, Qatar, on Thursday for negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict with Hamas. Hamas has indicated it won’t join the talks.
The Israeli prime minister’s office announced the decision on Wednesday.
This comes after the United States, Egypt and Qatar jointly called on Israel and Hamas to resume ceasefire and hostage release negotiations.
CBS News said a senior Hamas official confirmed that the group won’t take part in negotiations with Israel. The US media outlet quoted the official as saying the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected an earlier proposal, added new conditions and assassinated the Hamas leader.
The official referred to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran late last month. Iran blames Israel for Haniyeh’s death and says it will retaliate.
Iran reportedly could launch a revenge attack on Israel as early as this week. Tehran has hinted it will decide on the timing of and method of such an attack after seeing how the expected talks develop.
Meanwhile, Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that “an official briefed on the talks said mediators expected to consult with the Palestinian group afterwards” if the group does not directly join the negotiations.