Gaza ceasefire talks suspended, scheduled to resume next week

August 16, according to the mediator, < b > Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha on Friday were suspended, and negotiators will meet again next week to seek an agreement to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas and release the remaining hostages. In a joint statement, the United States, Qatar and Egypt said that < b > the United States has put forward a new proposal based on the consensus reached in the past week, bridging the differences between the two sides in a way that allows the agreement to be implemented quickly. The mediator will continue to study the proposal in the coming days, they said. An Israeli official said its delegation in Doha will return home later on Friday, < b > and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken on Monday. Israel and mediators began the latest round of on-again-off talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza on Thursday, with Hamas not directly participating in the talks but being briefed on the progress of the talks. The current sticking point between the two sides is Israel's insistence that peace can only be achieved by destroying Hamas, which has said it will only accept a permanent ceasefire, not a temporary one.