JERUSALEM 

A new round of Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap talks began Thursday in the Qatari capital, Doha, to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas.   

Israeli Channel 12 carried the news, without providing any further details.  

The talks are attended by CIA Director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Egyptian Intelligence Chief General Abbas Kamel and Israeli Mossad Chief David Barnea.  

Hamas said on Wednesday that it will join the upcoming Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap talks if it gets a clear commitment from Israel regarding the implementation of US President Joe Biden-backed proposal.  

Last May, Biden said Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, and the reconstruction of Gaza.  

For months, Egypt, Qatar and the US have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.  

But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands to stop the war.  

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.  

The Israeli onslaught has since killed over 40,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,400 others, according to local health authorities.  

Over 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.  

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.  

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala