Trump told reporters in Washington on Friday that a deal could be reached within a week.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, has said that there is a “window of opportunity” for a ceasefire and a captives release deal between Hamas and Israel following the agreement reached between Tehran and Tel Aviv.
“If we don’t utilise this window of opportunity and this momentum, it’s an opportunity lost amongst many in the near past. We don’t want to see that again,” Al-Ansari, who is also the adviser to Qatar’s prime minister, told AFP on Friday.
Qatar and the United States, both mediators between Hamas and Israel, brokered the ceasefire between Tehran and Tel Aviv last Tuesday.
The deal came after Iran launched a retaliatory missile strike on the U.S. Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar following the attack on its nuclear facilities. Qatari authorities confirmed they successfully intercepted the missiles, reporting no injuries or fatalities, and strongly condemned the attack.
Al-Ansari said that while “Qatar could have taken the decision to escalate” in response to the attack, it prioritised the potential for peace.
Al-Ansari also noted that there were no current talks between Hamas and Israel, but Qatar was still “heavily involved in talking to every side separately”.
Talks between both sides have stalled since Israel resumed its genocide in the Gaza Strip on March 18 after the mediators reached a ceasefire deal on January 15.
Israel has since intensified its brutal onslaught against Palestinians while maintaining its chokehold over aid, starving the Gaza Strip’s 2.1 million population.
Israel blamed Hamas for the deal’s collapse, despite the Palestinian group’s commitment to release 33 captives and five Thai workers.
Hamas also released Israeli-American soldier, Edan Alexander, on May 12 in hopes of reaching a ceasefire deal, but the move was only met with daily Israeli massacres in the besieged enclave.
Al-Ansari said that Qatar is working closely with its fellow mediators, the U.S. and Egypt, to resume the negotiations.
“We are working with them very, very closely to make sure that the right pressure is applied from the international community as a whole, especially from the U.S., to see both parties at the negotiating table,” Ansari said.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA! GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
Trump had also told reporters in Washington on Friday that a deal could be reached within a week.
“We think within the next week we’re going to get a ceasefire,” he said.
Despite Trump’s remarks, Israeli occupation forces persisted in their brutal attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 60 people, including nine children, on Saturday.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians, mainly women and children, although the figure is believed to be an underestimate with thousands trapped under the rubble.
On Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry confirmed that at least 66 children died as a result of malnutrition due to Israel’s blocking of aid entry.
