Israel has recalled its negotiators from Doha after deeming mediation talks on a Gaza truce "at a dead end" due to Hamas demands, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday. The official, who is close to the Mossad representative heading up the talks, accused Hamas' Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar of sabotaging the diplomacy "as part of a wider effort to inflame this war over Ramadan."
Hamas rejected the deal late Monday night, informing mediators that it would maintain its original position regarding a ceasefire, meaning they are demanding the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza, returning Palestinians to their homes, and exchanging prisoners.
A message published on Hamas's official Telegram channel read, "The Hamas movement informed the mediator brothers a short while ago that the movement is adhering to its position and vision presented on March 14.
"The occupation’s response did not respond to any of the basic demands of our people and our resistance," read a statement by Hamas. "Accordingly, the movement reiterates that Netanyahu and his extremist government bear full responsibility for thwarting all negotiation efforts and obstructing reaching an agreement so far," it concluded.
Israel reportedly agreed Saturday to a US compromise on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released for every Israeli hostage released. It was willing to release some 700 to 800 prisoners and consider a return of Palestinian citizens to the north of the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded, saying that Hamas's response proves that they are not interested in continuing negotiations for a deal. He also called the response "testimony to the damage" created by the UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, which passed Monday.
The resolution passage has not had an immediate impact on ceasefire talks, mediator Qatar said earlier on Tuesday. "We haven't seen any immediate effect on the talks; they are ongoing as they were before, as the (UN) decision was taking place," said Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari during a press conference in Doha.
The US State Department also said that it is inaccurate that Hamas rejected the most recent hostage deal proposal because of Monday's UNSC resolution - a notion being pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the department.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller said Hamas' response to the deal was prepared before the UNSC vote, not after it. "So, for the United States, we will not use rhetorical distractions on this issue. We are going to continue to work to try to bring the hostages home," Miller said.
The US is working on another compromise that will be proposed in a few days, reported N12's Yaron Avraham.
Netanyahu canceled a delegation of Israeli officials set to depart to DC to meet with senior US officials to talk about an IDF operation in Rafah as well as the hostages following the passage of the resolution Monday.
Defense Minister Gallant continues to meet with American officials
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on a separate trip to meet with US officials, continued his meetings on Monday and Tuesday despite the other delegation being canceled. Gallant met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken late Monday night (Israel time). According to a statement from Gallant's office, the two discussed "military operations required to destroy Hamas as a military and governing authority in Gaza."
"During our discussion, I emphasized that Israel will not cease operating in Gaza until the return of all the hostages. Only a decisive victory will end this war,” said Gallant.
In their conversation, Blinken reiterated the US opposition to a major ground operation in Gaza and emphasized that other alternatives would "better ensure Israel's security and protect Palestinian civilians," according to a statement from the State Department.
A major operation "would further jeopardize the welfare of the more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians sheltering there," read the statement. Blinken also emphasized the need to increase and sustain additional humanitarian aid to Gazan civilians immediately.
The resolution called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages and was passed Monday when the US abstained from the vote and did not veto the resolution as it had with three previous, similar resolutions on the war in Gaza.
Blinken said in a press statement following the passage of the resolution that the abstention “reaffirms the US position that a ceasefire of any duration comes as part of an agreement to release hostages in Gaza.” White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said that the US abstention does not represent a shift in policy.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday that "if Israel doesn't comply with the United Nations ceasefire resolution, we will break diplomatic ties with Israel."
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to the Colombian President's post, saying, "The support of the President of Colombia for the Hamas killers who committed massacres and horrific sexual crimes against babies, women, and adults is a disgrace to the Colombian people. Israel will continue to protect its citizens and will not submit to any external pressures or threats,"
Israel must catch Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, "dead or alive" so that all the hostages could be returned, President Isaac Herzog said on Tuesday at the inauguration of the Mobileye campus in Jerusalem.
"Everything begins and ends with Yahya Sinwar," the president said.
He's the one who decided on the October massacre; he's been seeking to shed the blood of the innocent ever since, and it is he who aims to escalate the regional situation, to desecrate Ramadan, to do everything to shatter coexistence in our country and in the whole region, to sow discord among us and around the world," he added.
HANNAH SARISOHN and Reuters contributed to this report