DOHA, Qatar 

Qatar announced on Tuesday the resumption of indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a truce deal in the Gaza Strip.

“The negotiations resumed in Doha,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told a press conference in the Qatari capital.

He said a meeting was held on Monday where Israel presented its response to a Hamas proposal for a Gaza truce deal.

The head of Israel’s intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, who heads his country’s delegation to the talks, had left Qatar early Tuesday.

“The Mossad chief left Doha, but the Israeli delegation is still holding meetings in Qatar,” Al-Ansari said.

The Qatari spokesman warned Israel against launching any ground attack on Rafah city, where more than 1.4 million have taken refuge from the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

“Any Israeli attack on Rafah will harm efforts to reach a (truce) agreement,” he said.

Qatar, along with Egypt and the US, is mediating between Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement for a Gaza truce and hostage-prisoner swap.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding nearly 130 Israeli hostages, demands an end to Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip in return for any hostage deal with Israel.

A previous deal in November 2023 saw the release of 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners in exchange for 240 Palestinians, including 71 women and 169 children.

Israel has waged a deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last October, which killed 1,200 people.

More than 31,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and almost 74,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.​​​​​​​

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar