
Israel and Hamas are locked in Gaza truce talks with goals that seem impossible to reconcile.
Israeli negotiators are seeking not only the release of dozens of hostages taken on Oct. 7 but also the freedom to resume a military campaign to crush Hamas once and for all after any cease-fire ends, said mediators at the talks in Qatar. In contrast, Hamas is essentially negotiating for its survival, pushing for a lasting truce and ways to remain influential in postwar Gaza, if no longer its ruler.