Qatar 'cautiously optimistic' as Gaza talks resume, UN raises alarm

Mediator Qatar is "cautiously optimistic" after negotiations to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza war resumed in Doha on Tuesday, just as a top UN figure said Israel using hunger as a tactic in the conflict could constitute war crimes.

Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since October 7 when militants from the Palestinian movement Hamas, which controls the coastal territory, and other extremist groups killed over 1,200 people inside Israel and kidnapped some 240 people in an unprecedented terrorist attack.

The Jewish state's reaction and attempt to root out Hamas has killed more than 31,819 people since the beginning of the war, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled health authority, with many more said to be missing. Around 73,934 others have been injured, the authority said.

Talks over a ceasefire have been off and on for weeks and Qatar hopes for progress.

"We are of course cautiously optimistic that the negotiations have continued... in Doha," spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in a briefing.

David Barnea, head of the Israeli foreign intelligence agency Mossad, left Qatar after holding talks, while technical teams remained.

"It is too early to claim any particular success," al-Ansari said.

When asked if a permanent ceasefire is on the table, he said the focus now is to reach an agreement on a "humanitarian pause." Mediators hope this pause would build momentum towards a full truce.

Expectations are that the discussions, which are being attended by representatives from Egypt and the United States as well as Qatar, will continue for a week or two.

Al-Ansari warned that an Israeli assault on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip would obstruct all attempts at an agreement and would be a humanitarian catastrophe.

Hamas has put forward a new proposal to the mediators. It is no longer calling on Israel to end the war before the hostages it is holding are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

According to the proposal, Hamas would make a long-lasting halt to Israeli military action a condition only in a second phase of hostage releases.

The move means that Hamas is coming closer to a multi-stage plan that the mediators presented several weeks ago and that has been accepted by Israel, observers said. At the time, Israel said Hamas was making unrealistic demands.

Israel's N12 broadcaster reported that the mediators' plan envisaged the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 40 hostages.

Hamas was instead demanding the release of 950 prisoners held in Israel, with the additional stipulation that it decide on which prisoners would be released, including those sentenced for murder.

Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 reported that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both on the far right, had threatened to desert Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "if dozens of terrorists with blood on their hands are released."

According to Israeli estimates, 134 hostages, including around 20 women, are still in the hands of the terrorists. According to Israeli information, only around 100 of the hostages are believed to be alive.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, believes that Israel may be using starvation in the Gaza Strip as a conflict tactic - which would be tantamount to a war crime.

A spokesman for his office said that it would be up to international courts to determine whether this was actually happening.

The United Nations has warned of an imminent famine, with around 1.1 million people in the Palestinian region in a desperate situation.

"The extent of Israel's continued restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime," Türk said in a statement.

"The clock is ticking. Everyone, especially those with influence, must insist that Israel acts to facilitate the unimpeded entry and distribution of needed humanitarian assistance and commercial goods to end starvation and avert all risk of famine."

According to the UN and international legal experts, Israel is an occupying power because it controls practically all access points and supplies to the Gaza Strip.

Israel rejects this because it withdrew militarily in 2005, before re-entering in October.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was set to travel to Saudi Arabia and Egypt to discuss ceasefire efforts, stressed that while Israel had a right to defend itself and "prevent October 7th from happening again," it is "absolutely incumbent" for the country to "make it a priority to protect civilians... and to provide for those who desperately need humanitarian assistance."

"According to the most respected measure of these things, 100% of the population in Gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity," Blinken said on Tuesday in Manila at the end of a visit to the Philippines. "That's the first time an entire population has been so classified."

On the ground on Tuesday, the Israeli army said its troops were continuing precise operations against Hamas operatives it believes are deliberately embedded in civilian infrastructure in the strip.

This includes the al-Shifa hospital, the army said.

Israeli forces apprehended some 300 suspects, the Israel Defense Forces said late on Tuesday, adding that "dozens of terrorists" had been eliminated in the operation at al-Shifa hospital.