An official privy to the negotiations told Reuters that the mediators gave Hamas and Israel ‘a final draft’ of a deal presented by Qatar.
Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has met with both Hamas’s delegation and U.S. Middle East envoys in Doha as negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire continue.
The meetings took place separately on Monday evening at the Lusail Palace in the Gulf state.
The talks between the Amir and the Hamas delegation, led by Khalil Al-Hayya, focused on the latest developments in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, according to the Amiri Diwan.
“During the meeting, they reviewed the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, which aim to achieve a long-term truce in the Strip,” the Amiri Diwan said in a statement.
Sheikh Tamim also reiterated Qatar’s “firm position on the justice of the Palestinian cause” and “the legitimate rights” of the Palestinian people.
The meeting with Hamas followed one with incoming U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden’s top Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk.
“During the meeting, they reviewed developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations,” the Amiri Diwan said.
A phone call then took place between Sheikh Tamim and Biden, where they reportedly discussed joint mediation efforts to end Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip as well as “regional and international developments of common interest”.
A statement by the White House added that both leaders discussed the “critical” negotiations in Doha for a deal that is “based on the May 27, 2024 arrangement” that was endorsed by the United Nations UN Security Council.
Israel had rejected the proposal at the time under its refusal to end the war in the Gaza Strip.
“Both leaders emphasised the urgent need for a deal to be implemented to return the hostages to their families and bring immediate relief to the people of Gaza through a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by the ceasefire and called for in the deal,” the White House added.
Cautious optimism
Qatar, alongside Egypt and the U.S., has been playing a central mediation role between Hamas and Israel since the onset of the genocide in the Gaza Strip that began on October 7, 2023.
The talks had stalled since the expiration of a week-long truce deal that ended in December 2023, which was followed by intensified Israeli assaults on the blockaded territory.
Numerous rounds of talks over the past year failed to culminate in a deal as Israel rejected permanently halting the war on the Strip.
A state of cautious optimism emerged since the beginning of the year over reaching a deal that would result in a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and release of captives from Hamas.
Efforts to reach a deal increased ahead of Trump’s inauguration on January 20 after he repeatedly threatened that “hell” would break out if the Israeli captives are not released by then.
The focus this week has shifted towards Doha after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed a high-level Israeli delegation to partake in negotiations in the Gulf state.
The delegation included the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, Israeli General Nitzan Alon, and senior captives negotiator Ophir Falk.
Earlier, an official privy to the negotiations told Reuters that the mediators gave Hamas and Israel “a final draft” of a deal presented by Qatar, although the Gulf state has yet to comment on the matter.
Both, Hamas and Israel, have yet to formally announce their responses to the draft deal on the table.
“The next 24 hours will be pivotal to reaching the deal,” the official told the news agency.
Meanwhile, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in Washington, DC that a deal “can get done this week”.
“We are close to a deal, and it can get done this week. I’m not making a promise or prediction, but it is there for the taking, and we are going to work to make it happen,” Sullivan said.
