May 17 (UPI) -- Hamas and Israel have confirmed that talks to end the war in Gaza and release hostages on both sides resumed Saturday.
Hamas adviser Taher al-Nounou told the BBC that peace negotiations have begun anew in Doha, while Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Hamas negotiators are also in Qatar, engaged in indirect talks specifically regarding the hostages.
The news broke after Israel's military surged into Gaza as part of its Operation Gideon's Chariots to take control of more territory and free the hostages Hamas has been holding since the war began after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
"The heroism of IDF soldiers, the unity of the people and the determination of the political echelon increase the chance of the return of the hostages -- as it was then and as it is now," Katz said, according to CBS News.
Britain's The Guardian newspaper quoted United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk as saying Friday that Israel's ramped-up ground offensive "and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is defiance of international law and that is tantamount to ethnic cleansing."
About 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced amid the war and the death toll in Gaza, as of Friday, was more than 53,000.
