GAZA, July 12 (Reuters/BBC): Talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza are stalling over the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha said on Saturday.
The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are nonetheless expected to continue, the sources said, despite the latest obstacles in clinching a deal.
A Palestinian source said that Hamas has rejected the withdrawal maps which Israel has proposed, as they would leave around 40 percent of the territory under Israeli control, including all of the southern area of Rafah and further territories in northern and eastern Gaza.
Two Israeli sources said Hamas wants Israel to retreat to the lines it held in a previous ceasefire before it renewed its offensive in March.
The Palestinian source said matters regarding aid and guarantees for ending the war were also presenting a challenge, and added that the crisis may be resolved with more US intervention.
The White House said on Monday that Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, who played a major role in crafting the latest ceasefire proposal, will travel to Doha this week to join discussions there.
Delegations from Israel and Hamas have been in Qatar since Sunday in a renewed push for an agreement which envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals and discussions on ending the war entirely.
Hamas has long demanded an end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would end the fighting only when all hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled.
The war began on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages there are believed to still be alive.
Israel's subsequent campaign against Hamas has since killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, displaced almost the entire population of more than 2 million people, sparked a humanitarian crisis and left much of the territory in ruins.
Two Palestinians, one a dual US citizen, have been killed in an attack by Israeli settlers on a town in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The Israeli military said stones were thrown at Israelis near Sinjil and that "a violent confrontation developed in the area". It added that security forces were looking into the reports of one Palestinian being killed, and the incident involving the second was under review.
There was a surge in violence in the West Bank even before Hamas's attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Since then, the UN says at least 910 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, 13 by Israeli settlers, and another seven by either Israeli forces or settlers. At least 44 Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank.
Sayfollah Musallet, a 23-year-old dual US citizen from Florida, was fatally beaten during the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, the Palestinian ministry said. The second man, Mohammed al-Shalabi, also 23, died after being shot in the chest, it added.
The US state department said it was "aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank", and that it had no further comment "out of respect for the privacy of the family".
Sayfollah Musallet, a businessman whose nickname was Saif, travelled from his home in Tampa to the West Bank on 4 June, according to his family.
