Shahrokh Saei
Tehran Times

A new round of negotiations held in the Qatari capital aimed at halting Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip has been thrust into the limelight as the death toll from regime’s onslaught in the besieged Palestinian territory passed the grime milestone of 40,000.

Senior American, Egyptian and Qatari officials held talks with an Israeli delegation in Doha on Thursday and Friday.

It has been reported that CIA director William Burns, White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel attended the talks. They met with the Israeli delegation which included Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, and the Israeli military’s captive chief, Nitzan Alon.

Israelis have launched a smear campaign against Hamas which did not join the negotiations. The resistance movement wanted mediators to discuss a ceasefire plan based upon earlier negotiations rather than starting fresh talks. However, mediators relayed messages to Hamas officials based in Doha.

Israel’s excessive demands — Israel stands accused of adding new demands to a previous ceasefire plan presented by the US president on May 31.

On June 10, the United Nations Security Council approved a US resolution backing Joe Biden’s three-phased ceasefire plan to which Hamas agreed in principle.

The first phase of the Biden proposal would include a "full and complete ceasefire" lasting six weeks, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all populated areas of Gaza, and the exchange of some of the captives held in the enclave in exchange for the release of Palestinian inmates from Israeli jails.

The second phase would involve the release of all remaining captives and a "permanent end to hostilities". The third would see the start of a major reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip which has been devastated during the Israeli onslaught that was launched on October 7 last year.

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Shahrokh Saei
Tehran Times

Hamas fighters kill and capture Israeli soldiers in an ambush inside north Gaza tunnel

The tunnel network, which Israel has dubbed the "Gaza Metro", is effectively operating despite the regime’s claims of destroying a large part of it.

Hamas says it has built 500 kilometers (311 miles) worth of tunnels under the Gaza Strip. The efficiency of the tunnels came to light during fighting between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza.

The military wing of the resistance group released a video of the fighting on Sunday saying its fighters have captured and killed an unidentified number of Israeli soldiers after luring them into a tunnel.

💬 "Our fighters lured a Zionist force into an ambush inside a tunnel ... The fighters withdrew after they left all members of the force dead, wounded, and captured," Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for Al Qassam Brigades, said in a recorded message.

The footage shows an Israeli soldier being dragged along the ground in a tunnel and photos of military fatigue and rifles.

The ambush carried out by Hamas fighters highlights Israel’s false claims about destroying Hamas tunnels in Gaza and defeating the group in northern Gaza. Citing US intelligence, Politico reported last week that about 65 percent of Hamas tunnels are still intact. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari claimed in early January this year that the regime had dismantled Hamas’s command network in northern Gaza and killed around 8,000 resistance fighters in that area.

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