Mediators to propose Gaza truce amid deadly strikes

GAZA STRIP

Israeli forces carried out new deadly bombings targeting Hamas in Gaza on Wednesday, as international mediators prepared to propose a short-term truce to free hostages and avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

News of the potential breakthrough in truce talks came a day after an Israeli strike on a single Gaza residential block killed nearly 100 people and triggered international revulsion.

U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators have for months been trying to negotiate a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza to allow a prisoner swap, humanitarian access and talks on a longer-term peace.

Israel's Mossad spy chief David Barnea, CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani held their latest round of secretive talks on Sunday and Monday in Doha.

A source close to the talks on Wednesday told AFP on condition of anonymity that the senior officials discussed proposing to the parties a "short-term" truce of "less than a month."

The proposal included the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and an increase in aid to Gaza, the source added.

"U.S. officials believe that if a short-term deal can be reached, it could lead to a more permanent agreement," the source said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia was expected to open the first meeting of a new "international alliance" to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state, state media said.

The "International Alliance to Implement the Two-State Solution" was unveiled last month on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Saudi state media reported at the time, bringing together Arab and Islamic countries and European countries.

This week's meeting in Riyadh is expected to last for two days and feature sessions on humanitarian access, the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees and incentives to promote a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, diplomats said.

The European Union will be represented by Sven Koopmans, the special representative for the Middle East peace process, diplomats said.

The Gaza war has revived talk of a "two-state solution" of Israeli and Palestinian states living in peace side by side, though analysts say the goal seems more unattainable than ever.

The hard-right Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains implacably opposed to Palestinian statehood.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and custodian of Islam's two holiest sites, paused U.S.-brokered talks on recognising Israel after the Gaza war broke out between Palestinian militants Hamas and Israel.