DOHA: Gaza mediator Qatar said on Sunday there was some progress in talks in Doha this week aimed at securing a new truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking at a news conference, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Moha­mmed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani reported “a bit of progress”, in response to questions about reports of a meeting in Doha between Israel’s Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea and the Qatari prime minister.

“We need to find an answer for the ultimate question: how to end this war.

That’s, that’s basically, I think, the key point of the entire negotiations,“ Sheikh Mohammed added.

Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, brokered a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza which came into effect on January 19 but which did not bring a complete end to the war.

Toll surpasses 52,000 after the deaths of nearly 700 ‘missing’ Palestinians confirmed

The initial phase of the truce ended in early March, with the two sides unable to agree on the next steps. Israel resumed air and ground attacks across the Gaza Strip on March 18 after earlier halting the entry of aid.

Sheikh Mohammed met Barnea in the Qatari capital to discuss a potential prisoner deal on Thursday, according to Israeli media.

“The meeting that took place on Thursday is part of these efforts where we’re trying to find a breakthrough,” the Qatari prime minister said without further elaborating on the details of the meeting.

Hamas is open to an agreement to end the war in Gaza that would see all Israeli prisoners released and secure a five-year truce, an official said on Saturday as the group’s negotiators met in Cairo.

The Qatari PM said efforts were focused on the “best comprehensive deal possible that ends the war, brings the Israeli prisoners out and not dividing (a deal) into other phases.” Hamas has insisted that the negotiations should lead to a permanent end to the war.

According to the Palestinian group, it rejected an earlier Israeli offer that included a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the return of 10 living prisoners.

50 more killed in a day

According to Al Jazeera, the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks since Sunday dawn across Gaza rose to at least 50 Palestinians.

The Palestinian health ministry announced on Sunday that the death toll from the war had risen to more than 52,000 people, after hundreds previously listed as missing were confirmed dead.

“An additional 697 martyrs have been added to the cumulative statistics after their data was completed and verified by the committee monitoring missing persons,” the health ministry said in a statement, giving the overall death toll of 52,243.

Several United Nations agencies that operate in Gaza have said the ministry’s data is credible.

One hospital in the Palestinian territory confirmed the data and elaborated on the process.

“The families of those initially reported missing had informed authorities of their disappearance, but their bodies were subsequently recovered — either from beneath the rubble or from areas previously inaccessible to medical teams due to the presence of the Israeli army,” said Khalil al-Daqran, spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2025