Netanyahu authorises Israel negotiators to continue Doha hostage talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorised Israeli negotiators to continue talks in Doha on a hostage release, his office said Thursday, after Israel and Hamas traded blame for their slow progress.

Indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have taken place in Doha in recent weeks, rekindling hope for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement that has so far proven elusive.

But late last month the two sides accused each other of throwing up roadblocks, again delaying a deal.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the professional-level delegation of the Mossad (spy agency), the IDF (military) and the ISA (internal security agency) to continue the negotiations in Doha," a statement from his office said.

A team from Hamas had also reached Cairo to prepare for negotiations in Doha "in the coming days," an official from the group told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

In December, Hamas had said that though negotiations were continuing "in a serious manner", Israeli negotiators had put forward "new conditions" which delayed reaching a deal.

Israel swiftly rebuffed the accusation, saying it was Hamas that was creating "new obstacles" to an agreement.

The latest developments came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to step up strikes in Gaza if Hamas failed to release the hostages.

"If Hamas does not soon allow the release of the Israeli hostages from Gaza... and continues firing (rockets) at Israeli communities, it will face blows of an intensity not seen in Gaza for a long time," Katz said.

Successive rounds of negotiations have all failed since a single, week-long truce in November 2023.

In Israel, critics of Netanyahu, including relatives of some of the dozens of hostages still in captivity, have accused him of stalling.

During their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas members seized 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

A key point of contention in the negotiations has been Israel's reluctance to agree to a lasting ceasefire.

Another unresolved issue has been Gaza's post-war governance. Israel has said repeatedly that it will not allow Hamas to rule the territory ever again.

Netanyahu has also said he will not agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza.

The October 7, 2023 attack resulted in 1,208 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 45,581 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.