Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip during a phone call on Saturday.

Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas discussed the latest developments in Gaza and the West Bank on Saturday, with talks over a ceasefire expected to resume in Doha this week.

The discussions between both leaders took place over a phone call, during which they stressed the need for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to Palestine’s news agency (Wafa). 

President Abbas also thanked Sheikh Tamim for his “unswerving support for the Palestinian cause on global platforms.”

“He applauded Qatar’s substantial contributions in providing both humanitarian and economic assistance to the Palestinian populace,” Wafa reported, citing Abbas.

The conversation came as multiple reports point to the resumption of indirect talks in Qatar on Sunday between Hamas and Israel over a possible deal in Gaza.

Egyptian officials separately told the Associated Press that the talks may be pushed to Monday after the meeting between the Israeli war cabinet on Sunday evening.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that an Israeli delegation will head to Qatar for talks while announcing the approval for the Rafah invasion on the same day, rejecting all international pressure.

Rafah has more than one million displaced Palestinians crammed up and an Israeli invasion would lead to more harrowing massacres. 

The Palestinians would also have no choice but to flee to neighbouring Egypt, which has restricted the entry and exit of people through its shared Rafah Crossing with Gaza.

Netanyahu previously said that a deal would only delay the Rafah invasion, vowing to continue the war on Gaza.

On March 7, Talks in Cairo between officials from Qatar, the United States, and Hamas failed to achieve a breakthrough after Israel rejected the Palestinian group’s demand for a ceasefire and withdrawal of forces from Gaza.

The upcoming talks would look into the deal currently on the table over a six-week pause that mediators hope would pave the way for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza.

Meanwhile on Friday, Hamas submitted a new proposal for a three-stage plan, each lasting 42 days, sources told Al Jazeera at the time.

In the first stage, Hamas demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Al-Rashid and Salah Al-Din streets, the two vital roads that enable the return of displaced Palestinians to the north and the entry of aid.

Hamas would also release women, children, elderly and ill captives in exchange for the release of 700-to-1,000 Palestinians from Israeli jails, Reuters separately reported.

The Palestinian group also said it would name 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 serving life sentences, to be released in exchange for one female Israeli military member, sources told Al Jazeera.

In the second stage, Hamas demanded a permanent ceasefire before further exchanges of captives and prisoners. The third phase would then involve the reconstruction and lifting of the siege on Gaza.

Netanyahu described Hamas’s demands as “absurd” and “unrealistic,” a response that has been widely expected due to his refusal to end the war on Gaza.

Mediators – Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S. – had hoped to reach a deal before the beginning of Ramadan, which the 2.2 million population in Gaza is observing under the non-stop Israeli bombardment and an extreme shortage of basic resources.

Since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 31,553 Palestinians while wounding 73,546 others, according to Wafa.

As of Tuesday, at least 27 people, including 21 children, died due to malnutrition and dehydration, according to Wafa. The figure has likely gone up since amid the continuation of the war and blockade.

Since February, Israel has carried out deadly attacks on Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza, with harrowing images of blood-stained flour bags surfacing all over social media.

Israel carried out the latest such massacre on Friday, killing dozens of Palestinians at the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City while they were waiting to receive aid. Sources told Wafa that Israeli forces’ warplanes and drones fired at the crowd of people.