The statement came after Qatar and Washington’s top diplomats said that negotiators will gather in Doha to try to restart talks toward a deal for a ceasefire of the Israeli war on Gaza.

The Netanyahu spokesperson gave no other details, according to Reuters.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Israeli PM’s office issued a statement saying: "At the direction of Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, will leave on Sunday for a meeting in Doha with the head of the CIA, Bill Burns, and with the prime minister of Qatar," said the statement, adding that "the parties will discuss the various options to restart the negotiations to release hostages from Hamas captivity following the latest developments."

An Israeli group representing families of the captives called on Netanyahu and Hamas to secure an agreement for the release of captives after new truce talks were announced on Thursday, reported AFP.

“We demand the Israeli prime minister grant the negotiating team full authority to secure this deal. Time is running out for the hostages,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, adding: “We urgently call on world leaders to exert maximum pressure on Hamas to accept this deal and end a humanitarian catastrophe that has already claimed too many innocent lives”.

The apparent resumption of the long-stalled truce negotiations comes with Israel under pressure to end its wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

A boy walks with a notebook through debris and rubble in the balcony corridor of the Shuhada (Martyrs) school, which was hit by Israeli bombardment, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on October 24, 2024. AFP 

Meeting with Qatar's leaders in Doha on Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that mediators would explore new options after the failure of previous efforts to seal a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

"We talked about options to capitalise on this moment and next steps to move the process forward," Blinken told reporters.

Qatar said that US and Israeli teams would fly to Doha, with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani adding that Qatari mediators had "re-engaged" with Hamas since the Israeli military killed the group's leader Yahya Sinwar.

There was no mention of Hamas participating in the planned Doha meeting.

Hundreds killed in days
 

"More than 770 people have been killed" in the territory's north in the 19 days since the Israeli operation started, Gaza Civil Defence Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said, adding that the toll could rise as people were buried under the rubble.

He also said a strike on a school-turned-shelter in central Gaza killed 17 people on Thursday, while the Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants when it hit the site.

The civil defence agency also said it can no longer provide first responder services in the north, accusing Israeli forces of threatening to bomb and kill its crews.

On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, based in the occupied West Bank, accused Israel of trying to "empty" northern Gaza of people and "starving the population".

Israel's offensive has killed 42,847 people in Gaza, the majority women and children, with an additional 100,544 individuals sustaining injuries, according to figures from the territory's health ministry.