US official calls Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha the most constructive in months

By Humeyra Pamuk and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The latest negotiations in Doha to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage deal have been the most productive in months, and negotiators will reconvene next week in Cairo hoping to conclude it, a senior Biden administration official said on Friday.

"It was consensus of all of the participants over the past 48 hours that there's really a new spirit here to drive it to a conclusion," the official said, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity.

He still cautioned that work remained to be done.

"This is a very difficult, complex deal."

On Friday, the U.S., with help from mediators Qatar and Egypt, put forward a bridging proposal the three countries believe would close all gaps between warring parties Israel and Hamas, the official said.

The past two days in Doha were probably "the most constructive 48 hours" that the parties have had in months, the official said.

"The Israeli team that was here was empowered...We made a lot of progress in the number of issues that we've been working on," the official said.

The latest round in months of talks to end the war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, began on Thursday between Israel and mediators. The Palestinian militant group Hamas was not directly involved in the talks but was kept briefed on progress.

The White House sent CIA Director Bill Burns and U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel were also taking part.

The negotiations took place in the shadow of a feared regional escalation. Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

There will be engagements over the course of next week between working groups that will discuss everything from the list of hostages, the sequence by which the hostages would be released and the Palestinian prisoners.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel on Sunday.

The conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas fighters rampaged into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and seizing around 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military campaign has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel says it has eliminated 17,000 Hamas fighters.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, Humeyra Pamuk and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)