NNA - A new round of negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip begins today, Thursday, with Qatari, American and Egyptian mediation, while military operations continue on the ground, according to Agence France-Presse.

The United States and Israel announced that they would send two delegations to Qatar to participate in the negotiations, which are also supposed to be attended by representatives of the Egyptian and Qatari mediating governments, along with Washington.

Based on previous negotiating sessions, direct negotiations do not take place between the two parties concerned, but the mediators convey proposals and answers to both delegations, which are not present in the same room.

A statement issued by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli delegation to the negotiations will include “Mossad chiefs David Barnea and Shin Bet Ronen Bar, as well as Nitzan Alon (hostage file coordinator) and Ofir Falk (political advisor).”

American sources following up on the file reported that the head of the US Intelligence Service, William Burns, went to Doha to participate in the negotiations.

A Hamas source said that the movement "will monitor and follow the progress of the negotiation round to see whether the course of negotiations serious on the part of the occupation and worthy of implementing the latest proposal, or is it a continuation of Netanyahu's procrastination?"

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed the situation in the region in a phone call on Wednesday evening.

The US State Department said that Blinken made a series of contacts with foreign leaders, and sent a “clear message” regarding the “vital importance” of the ceasefire in Gaza.

He stressed that "the time has come to release the hostages (...) and to ease the burdens on the people of Gaza, in accordance with the agreement now on the table."

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