Ruined scene after an Israeli bombardment on Gaza,  August 11, 2024. Photo: Getty Images/VNA

The Israeli negotiators include Director of the Intelligence Agency David Barnea, Director of the Internal Security Agency Ronen Bar and official in charge of freeing the hostages Nitzan Alon.

Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns and US Special Envoy for the Middle East Brett McGurk represent Washington at this round of negotiations.

The White House on Thursday urged all sides to attend Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha in order to get a deal implemented, urging Israel and Hamas to compromise and saying progress is still possible in the coming days.

This has been the latest effort by mediating countries to achieve the ultimate goal of ending the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza since October last year. There has been growing concern about the risk of the fighting escalating into a region-wide conflict after Iran announced it would react against Israel following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Tehran on July 31.

Hamas said on Wednesday that it would not participate in this new round of negotiations on the grounds that Israel was delaying efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. However, mediators plan to consult with members of Hamas in Doha after the talks end.