Qatar to host high-stakes Gaza truce talks

Qatar will host Gaza ceasefire talks on Thursday, sources close to the negotiations said, seeking a so-far elusive agreement that the United States hopes would stop Iran striking Israel and avert a wider war.

US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have invited Israel and Hamas for negotiations aimed at ending fighting that the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says has claimed nearly 40,000 lives in the Palestinian territory.

The talks will be held in the Qatari capital Doha, a source close to Hamas and a second source close to the negotiations said Wednesday, though it remained unclear if the Palestinian group -- whose October 7 attack on Israel triggered the war -- planned to participate.