Qatar, which hosts Hamas’s political office, has led talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group, brokering a week-long ceasefire in the war in Gaza in November that included the release of several Israeli and foreign hostages. Was.
The clashes followed an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people in Israel, the majority of whom were civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also pulled about 250 hostages back into Gaza, 132 of whom Israel says remain there, at least 27 of whom are believed to have been killed.
Israeli bombings and ground attacks since October 7 have killed at least 24,285 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, more than 70 percent of them women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.