Tel Aviv sends peace team to Qatar despite Hamas’ firm stance

Ahead of the indirect talks with Hamas in Qatar, Netanyahu’s office asserted that the militant group was seeking “unacceptable” changes to the truce proposal. Despite this, an Israeli delegation left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a hostage deal.

Hamas, which gave a “positive” response late on Friday to the latest US proposal, has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem reiterated the militant group’s refusal to lay down its weapons before Israel withdraws from all of southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes.

Since the November truce, Israel has continued to carry out near-daily airstrikes that it says aim to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities.

On Saturday, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public appearance since the war between Israel and Iran began.