Gaza death toll passes 40,000 as fresh ceasefire talks begin

White House says swift agreement is unlikely and talks will continue on Friday

Displaced Palestinians shelter in a cemetery in Khan Younis in southern Gaza (Reuters)

A new round of Gaza ceasefire talks has started in Qatar’s capital Doha – as the death toll in the Palestinian enclave moves past 40,000.

Israel’s spy chief, the head of the CIA and his Egyptian counterpart plus Qatar’s prime minister are involved in the talks. Hamas will not join the behind-closed-door discussions directly, but mediators Egypt and Qatar plan to consult with them afterwards.

After 10 months of war and multiple stalled attempts to end the bloodshed and release more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza, the latest talks have been given an added gravity by fears of a revenge attack by Iran on Israel.

Iran has threatened a response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month. Some Iranian officials have suggested that only a ceasefire deal in Gaza would hold Iran back from direct retaliation.

But a possible escalation from Iranian-backed Hezbollah across the Israel-Lebanon border – with Israeli having killed a senior Hezbollah commander hours before the assassination of Haniyeh – is also weighing on the meeting, with deep concerns over the threat of a wider regional war. There is significant international pressure to make these talks fruitful.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby cautioned that they were unlikely to produce an agreement on Thursday and would probably continue on Friday.

The Independent understands that one of the biggest sticking points to a deal is the Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor – which runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt – and the return of displaced people to the north of Gaza. Israel wants control over the corridor and the movement of people between the north and south.

Mr Kirby told reporters that negotiators were focused on narrowing the gaps and implementing the framework agreement, which he said had been “generally accepted” by both sides.

“The remaining obstacles can be overcome, and we must bring this process to a close,” he said. “Today’s a promising start.”

It was reported in the days before the talks that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had allegedly added new conditions to the framework agreement, an accusation staunchly denied by Mr Netanyahu’s office. In return, Israel has accused Hamas of seeking to scupper the talks by demanding changes.

Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and head of the Palestinian National Initiative, said the success of the talks depends on “whether Netanyahu wants a deal or not” and whether the US “has the guts, the ability and the will to pressure Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal without making new changes”.

Accusing the Israeli PM of thinking “only about himself” and his political career, Mr Barghouti spelled out the consequences of failing to reach a deal. “The issue is very serious,” he said. “Not only because no ceasefire will mean more people being killed and injured [but] if there is no deal this could drag [us] into a regional war.”

As the negotiators arrived in Qatar, fighting continued in Gaza, with Israeli troops hitting targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. Palestinian health officials said on Thursday that more than 40,000 people had been killed in the bombardment of Gaza by Israel. The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk has said it marked “a grim milestone”. Palestinian health officials say the true toll is likely thousands higher, since many bodies are believed to remain buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed in airstrikes.

The war in Gaza was triggered by a Hamas attack inside Israel during which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 taken hostage. Israel says 111 of the captives have not been released, including the bodies of 39. The hostages include 15 women and two children under the age of five.

The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forced to leave their homes, some fleeing multiple times across the territory to escape ground offensives. During the war, thousands within Israel and in southern Lebanon have also been displaced.