An Israeli envoy is expected to visit Qatar on Friday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire.

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An Israeli envoy is expected to arrive in Qatar on Friday to continue negotiations on a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where bombings and fighting continue in the north of the enclave and in Rafah in the south.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday tasked Mossad intelligence chief David Barnea with traveling to Qatar, after Hamas announced new ideas to end the war in Palestinian territory, which began on October 7 with the Islamist movement’s attack on Israel.

The head of the Israeli “secret” is expected to arrive in Doha on Friday to meet Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar, according to a source close to the negotiations quoted by France Presse (AFP), although the date and reason for the meeting is not known.

Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to continue the war until Hamas is destroyedconsidered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, and release all hostages.

Israel says it is studying Hamas’ response to the ceasefire

Hamas, in turn, demands a definitive ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from all Palestinian territory.

As mediation efforts led by Qatar, the United States and Egypt face Irreconcilable demands from both sides.The war threatens to take on a regional dimension with daily exchanges of fire on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

On Thursday, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and Iran, fired more than 200 rockets and drones at northern Israel and the Golan Heights in occupied Syria.

Hezbollah claims 200-rocket attack in northern Israel

In retaliation, the Israeli army announced that it had carried out attacks against military installations in southern Lebanon.

A Hamas delegation has met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to discuss the situation on the ground and upcoming negotiations, a Hamas official told AFP on Friday.

The war in Gaza has also sparked an outbreak of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority reported on Friday the death of five residents in an Israeli attack in Jenin.

The war broke out on October 7, when Hamas commandos carried out an unprecedented attack in southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,195 people, most of them civilians.

Of the 251 people kidnapped in the attack, 116 remain held hostage in the Gaza Strip, including 42 who are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli military.

In response, Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has so far killed 38,011 people, most of them civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Hamas-led Gaza Strip government.

Thousands rally in Israel against Netanyahu, demand deal with Hamas

After advancing from the north, the army launched a ground operation on May 7 in Rafah, a border town with Egypt, presented at the time as the last stage of the war.

But fighting has resumed in several regions Israel says it controls, notably in Shujaiya, an eastern district north of Gaza City, where the army has been carrying out a ground operation supported by shelling since June 27.

Fresh clashes broke out in Shujaiya on Friday between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters, a Hamas source said.

In the south, the army on Monday issued an evacuation order in eastern Rafah and Khan Younes, raising fears of further large-scale operations and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee in search of safe shelter and food.

Witnesses reported Israeli artillery fire and airstrikes in Khan Yunis and Rafah on Friday, where ground fighting was taking place.

“Toward Teams travel long distances carrying corpses due to the destruction. roads, making it difficult for ambulances to get there,” Civil Defence chief Mohammed Al Mughair told AFP.

In total, 1.9 million residents of the Gaza Strip, or 80% of the population, are currently displaced, according to the UN.