Israeli opposition leader, centrist Yair Lapid, told Israeli army radio that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “doesn't want” a cease-fire agreement with Hamas to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

“He's pulling the same stunt he did all the previous times,” opined the Yesh Atid party leader. "Negotiations progress and become possible, then he goes before the foreign media and explains that he won't stop the war and signals to Hamas that there's no reason to reach an agreement with them," he said.

Lapid's comments follow similar criticism from the other opposition leader, Benny Gantz, as well as from the head of the Israel Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman.

Israeli delegation in Doha

Meanwhile, an Israeli team tasked with negotiating an agreement travelled to Doha in Qatar, despite disagreements within the Israeli political class, according to the daily Haaretz. The main stumbling blocks between Israel and Hamas still concern the identity and number of Israeli hostages to be freed, as well as the Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange.

In particular, Hamas has reportedly requested that the militant Marwan Barghouti, imprisoned since 2001, be placed on this list. Last month, the leadership of the Palestinian movement reportedly hinted for the first time that it would be prepared to allow Israeli army troops to remain in the Gaza Strip after a cease-fire has come into effect.

Negotiators have asked not to publish details of the emerging agreement, and the parties are refraining from providing updates behind closed doors.

At least 15 people killed last night

After more than 14 months of war in the Gaza Strip, more than 45,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave, according to the latest figures from the local Health Ministry. On Sunday, the Ministry reported that 45,259 people had been killed and 107,627 wounded as a result of the Israeli offensive, which has been underway in the Palestinian enclave since Oct. 7, 2023, adding that at least 32 people had been killed the previous day.

According to Al-Jazeera, at least 11 Palestinians were killed last night in a series of Israeli air strikes on the “safe zone” of Mawassi, near Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.

The Qatari media reports that three successive attacks were carried out on the area, which is home to a large number of displaced persons. “One of them targeted the tents of displaced persons, killing seven people. A civilian vehicle transporting displaced people from one area to another in Mawassi was then attacked, killing two people. The third attack hit a vehicle carrying volunteers who were trying to secure the delivery of humanitarian aid to designated points,” writes the channel's local correspondent.

Four other people were killed in the Nousseirat camp, near Gaza City, in another air raid on a school used as a refuge on Sunday evening, according to the Palestinian agency Wafa.