A new round of Gaza ceasefire talks was underway in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday afternoon, an official briefed on the meeting told Reuters, with Israel’s spy chief joining his U.S. and Egyptian counterparts and Qatar’s prime minister for the closed-door meeting.
The talks, an effort to end 10 months of fighting in the Palestinian enclave and bring 115 Israeli and foreign hostages home, were put together as Iran appeared on the point of retaliating against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. With U.S. warships, submarines and warplanes dispatched to the region to defend Israel and deter potential attackers, Washington is hoping a ceasefire agreement in Gaza can defuse the risk of a full-out wider regional war.
