Qatar said on Tuesday that negotiations for a truce in Gaza were continuing, although the warring parties were blaming each other for the lack of progress.

Qatar said on Tuesday that talks between Hamas and Israel on a Gaza truce and hostage exchange are resuming, despite the warring parties trading blame over the lack of headway.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said the talks were “ongoing,” adding that there had not been “any development that would lead to thinking that one of the teams has pulled out of the negotiations.”

Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has been involved in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.

Since the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an “immediate ceasefire,” Hamas and Israel have traded blame for their failure to reach a deal.

Hamas said Netanyahu and his cabinet were “entirely responsible for the failure of negotiation efforts and for preventing an agreement from being reached up until now.”

Netanyahu’s office hit back on X, charging that Hamas was “not interested in continuing negotiations” as it had been emboldened by the Security Council vote.

Still Ongoing

Ansari told a Doha news conference that Qatar welcomed the UN resolution, which he said had not had “any immediate effect on the talks.”

The Qatari official said he could not comment specifically on the presence of Israeli technical teams in Doha but said that “regardless of the comings and goings of these teams, the meetings are still ongoing here in Doha, and I can confirm that part of the negotiating teams are still here in Doha conducting negotiations as we speak.”

The war began when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in about 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s military has waged a retaliatory offensive against Hamas that has killed 32,414 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the local Ministry of Health.

Palestinian militants seized about 250 Israeli and foreign hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel, but dozens were released during a week-long truce in November.

Israel believes about 130 people remain in Gaza, including 33 who are presumed dead — eight soldiers and 25 civilians.

With AFP