Gaza ceasefire talks paused, with plans to resume next week

The United States and mediators have made progress in talks to end the war in Gaza, with a White House statement saying the two-day talks in Doha were "serious and constructive". However, US President Joe Biden notes that "we're not there yet", indicating that a deal has not been reached. Despite this, the talks are expected to continue, with technical teams meeting again in the coming days and the main figures set to meet next week in Cairo. The latest round of talks is the latest in a series of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel, which have failed to achieve a deal since a short-lived truce collapsed in December. The talks are also seen as an effort to stall Iranian retaliation against Israel following the assassination of a top Iranian military commander.