Qatar has yet to publicly comment on the reported meeting. 

The Qatar-mediated talks over the release of additional captives from Hamas in Gaza this week are “positive” though no deal is imminent, a source privy to the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Qatar has been mediating discussions between the CIA, Israel’s Mossad, and Hamas representatives through Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries under wider efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.

A new meeting between the relevant parties reportedly took place in Poland on Tuesday to discuss a possible new “humanitarian pause” that would result in the release of Israeli and foreign captives from Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Reuters reported.

The reported meeting in Warsaw involved Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the CIA’s Chief Bill Burns.

Qatar has yet to publicly comment on the reported meeting. 

“The talks were positive with negotiators exploring and discussing different proposals in an attempt to progress on negotiations,” the source told Reuters.

The source added that “an agreement is not expected imminently, however.”

Qatar, alongside Egypt, mediated a temporary truce that began on November 24 and was renewed twice, ultimately ending on December 1 and lasting seven days.

The pause led to the release of 110 Israeli and foreign captives from Gaza, according to a Doha News tally. As part of the deal, Israel released 240 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.

Israel resumed its brutal war on Gaza after the truce expired on Friday, December 1, while advancing deeper into the Palestinian enclave. Israel believes there are still 129 hostages in Gaza.

Israel had said on December 2 that it pulled out its negotiators from talks with Qatar, Egypt and the United States over a renewed pause, declaring an impasse in the negotiations. 

Tel Aviv then appeared to backtrack on its decision on Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he was still speaking to Qatar and Egypt “regarding negotiations to release the hostages.” 

Meanwhile, Hamas responded to Netanyahu’s latest remarks on Saturday evening by renewing its rejection of negotiations without the complete halt of the Israeli war on Gaza.

The public Israeli pressure on Netanyahu has increased after the occupation forces admitted that it “mistakenly” killed three captives in northern Gaza on Friday. 

The three hostages were identified as Yotam Haim, Samar Talalka and Alon Shamriz. All were waving a white flag and were misidentified “as a threat”, the Israeli military said on X.

An initial Israeli probe found that the forces that fired at the three hostages did so in violation of the “Israeli Defence Forces’ protocols”, The Times of Israel reported on December 16. 

In a new statement on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he had “sent the head of the Mossad to Europe twice to promote a process for the release of our hostages,” as quoted by Reuters.

“I will spare no effort on the subject and the demand is to bring everyone (home),” Netanyahu added.

On Saturday, Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Sheikha Alya Al-Thani, said Doha’s diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause in Gaza are “ongoing” with hopes of achieving a “comprehensive” ceasefire agreement.

The Qatari diplomat’s comments came during the 10th emergency special session of the UN General Assembly “on the Israeli illegal actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory”.

The meeting aimed at reaching a draft resolution by the Arab Group on protecting civilians and adhering to international law, following the UN Security Council’s failure to adopt a ceasefire resolution on December 8.

The U.S. had used its veto power to block the resolution.

The UN said on Tuesday that the Security Council continued negotiations aimed at reaching a consensus for a ceasefire resolution. 

The new resolution demanded that all parties involved in the war in Gaza “allow, facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance” to the besieged enclave.

It also called for the “urgent suspension of hostilities” to enable the entry of aid.

Diplomatic sources told Al Jazeera that the language has been amended to an “urgent suspension of hostilities” instead, with the possibility of being altered to garner U.S. support.

“The key sticking point, of course, we believe is the ‘cessation of hostilities’,” Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo said, reporting from the UN in New York.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has intensified for 10 weeks straight, creating a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged coastal enclave.

Since October 7, Israel has killed more than 19,650 Palestinians and wounded 52,600 others in Gaza, Palestine’s health ministry said on Wednesday.

Euro-Med reported a much higher figure on Tuesday of 26,612, including 10,305 children and those who are presumed dead under the rubble.