DOHA: Mediator Qatar said Tuesday that talks between Palestinian groups and Israel on a Gaza truce and captives release are continuing, despite the warring parties trading blame over the lack of headway.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said the talks were "ongoing", adding there had not been "any development that would lead to thinking that one of the teams has pulled out of the negotiations".
Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.
Since the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an "immediate ceasefire", Hamas and Israel have traded blame for their failure to agree a deal.
Hamas said Netanyahu and his cabinet were "entirely responsible for the failure of negotiation efforts and for preventing an agreement from being reached up until now".
Netanyahu's office hit back on X, charging that Hamas was "not interested in continuing negotiations" as it had been emboldened by the Security Council vote.
Ansari told a Doha news conference that Qatar welcomed the UN resolution, which he said had not had "any immediate effect on the talks".
A source briefed on the talks said that "officials from Israel's Mossad spy agency remain in Doha for negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt on a Gaza truce and captive releases".
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said "only part of the Mossad team was returning to Israel for consultations on developments in the talks".
Ansari said "regardless of the comings and goings of these teams, the meetings are still ongoing here in Doha and I can confirm that part of the negotiating teams are still here in Doha conducting negotiations as we speak."
Israel's military has waged a retaliatory offensive that has killed 32,414 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.
Palestinian groups seized about 250 Israeli and foreign captives during the October 7 attack on Israel, but dozens were released during a week-long truce in November.
Israel believes about 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 who are presumed dead. — AFP
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