Qatar’s prime minister on Monday said his government was working to relay a new ceasefire proposal to Hamas after “good progress” was made in talks involving Israel and the United States over the weekend.
U.S., Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials agreed on a framework for a temporary ceasefire that would see the release of Israeli children and women held hostage by Hamas in an initial phase, along with an increase in humanitarian aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip.
That framework is currently being communicated to Hamas’s leadership in Gaza, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani said during a discussion with the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C.
“We are hoping, actually, to relay this proposal to Hamas and to get them to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process,” the Qatari premier said in a discussion with NBC Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell.
He described the discussions in Europe, which involved CIA Director Bill Burns and Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea, as making “good progress” and a “foundation for the way forward.”
The New York Times reported last week that the U.S. proposed Israel halt its military operation in Gaza for at least two months.
A November deal between Israel and Hamas that saw more than 100 hostages released included a pause in fighting for a few days, and was extended as additional hostages were released. Israel also released Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and allowed the scale up of humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza.
The U.S. and Israel blamed Hamas for violating the terms of the November agreement, and Hamas has called for a Israel to agree to a permanent ceasefire before hostages are released.
Al Thani suggested a temporary ceasefire could lay the groundwork for a more permanent end of hostilities.
“There was a clear demand of the permanent ceasefire ahead of the negotiations, which I believe that we moved from that place, to a place where it has, potentially, might lead to a ceasefire permanently in the future,” he said.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the negotiations in Europe “constructive” on Sunday, but added there remain “significant gaps which the sides will continue to discuss at additional mutual meetings to be held this week.”
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4435756-qatar-ceasefire-proposal-hamas-israel-progress/
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