Star Metro - Israeli negotiators head to Qatar for Gaza truce talks

The first phase of the truce ended on March 1 with no agreement on subsequent stages that could secure a permanent end to the war, but both sides have since refrained from resuming full-scale fighting.

There are still significant differences over the terms of a potential second phase of the truce, which has largely halted the violence that raged since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Hamas has repeatedly called for immediate negotiations on the next phase, while Israel prefers an extension of the current one.

Israel has halted aid deliveries to Gaza amid the deadlock, and on Sunday announced it was cutting off the electricity supply in a bid to force Hamas to release hostages.

"We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after" the war, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said as he ordered the power cut.

The move echoed the early days of the war when Israel announced a "siege" on Gaza, severing the electricity supply which was only restored in mid-2024.

The sole power line between Israel and Gaza supplies the Palestinian territory's main desalination plant, and Gazans now mainly rely on solar panels and fuel-powered generators to produce electricity.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are now living in tents across Gaza, where temperatures reach a low of about 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit) at night.

Top Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said the Israeli decision "to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine, and water" was a "desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance".

- 'Long-term truce' -

Hamas has repeatedly demanded that the second phase of the truce -- brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States -- would include a comprehensive hostage-prisoner exchange, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, and the reopening of border crossings to end the blockade.

Spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP that Hamas wanted the mediators to ensure Israel "complies with the agreement... and proceeds with the second phase according to the agreed-upon terms".

Former US president Joe Biden had outlined a second phase involving hostage release and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces left in Gaza.

Hamas representatives met mediators in Cairo over the weekend, a Hamas statement said.

US envoy Adam Boehler, who held unprecedented direct talks with Hamas officials in recent days, said on Sunday that a deal could be reached "within weeks" to secure all remaining hostages.

Of the 251 hostages taken during the October 7 attack, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed dead.

Boehler told CNN there could be "a deal where they can get all of the prisoners out, not just the Americans".

There are five Israeli-US nationals among the hostages, four of whom have been confirmed dead.

On CNN, the US envoy said a "long-term truce" was "real close", while in an interview with Israel's Channel 12 that aired later on Sunday, he said Washington would back any Israeli decision, including a return to war.

- 'Nothing available' -

An earlier proposal from Trump to expel Palestinians from Gaza prompted Arab leaders to offer an alternative reconstruction plan without displacement.

The initial phase of the truce, which began on January 19, reduced hostilities after more than 15 months of relentless fighting that displaced nearly all of Gaza's 2.4 million people.

During this period, 25 living Israeli hostages and eight bodies were exchanged for the release of about 1,800 Palestinians in Israeli custody.

The truce also allowed in much-needed food, shelter and medical assistance.

After Israel cut off the aid flow on March 2, UN rights experts accused the government of "weaponising starvation".

At a UN distribution of flour in Jabalia, northern Gaza, Abu Mahmoud Salman, 56, said that with the territory now closed off from fresh supplies, "there is nothing available".

"The markets are empty... prices are high, and there is no income. The situation in Gaza is difficult," he told AFP.

Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, while Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,458 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from both sides.

F.Tremblay--SMC