Israel has called its negotiators back from Doha after Gaza truce talks were deemed “deadlocked” over demands from the Palestinian group Hamas, an unnamed Israeli official said.
He accused the Gazan leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, of “sabotaging diplomacy”.
The conflicting parties, with the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, stepped up negotiations on a six-week suspension of the Israeli offensive for the release of 40 of the 130 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas is seeking talks on any deal that would lead to an end to the conflict and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel rejects this possibility.
The Palestinian militant organization is demanding that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians be allowed to return to the north of the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli official stressed that Israel had agreed to double the number of Palestinians it would release in exchange for hostages and to allow a certain number of displaced Palestinians to return to the northern Gaza Strip.
