Negotiations resumed in Doha on July 6 after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a delegation to the Gulf state to hold indirect talks with Hamas.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is reportedly meeting senior Qatari and Israeli officials in Rome on Thursday as part of ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a captives release deal.
Axios reported on the meeting on Thursday, citing two sources privy to the matter who said the discussions could signal that the indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel could lead to a deal within days.
However, Qatar has not commented on the reported meeting.
Sources from the U.S. and Israel also told the American news outlet that Witkoff would travel from Rome to Doha by the end of the week if progress is made.
Negotiations resumed in Doha on July 6 after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a delegation to the Gulf state to hold indirect talks with Hamas. The negotiations centred on a proposal presented by the mediators—Qatar, Egypt and the U.S.—over a 60-day truce.
Positive reports over the talks came out over the past couple of weeks, but a key sticking point has been the withdrawal map of Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip.
Hamas sought guarantees from Israel over completely halting the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip and withdrawing from the territory.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, repeatedly rejected Hamas’s demands under his insistence on continuing the war under the pretext of destroying the group’s capabilities—a goal that Israel has not achieved nearly two years since launching the brutal war.
The mediators had reached a three-phase ceasefire deal on January 15, which Israel broke on March 18, obstructing efforts to proceed to the second phase.
Hamas had announced on July 9 that it was willing to release 10 Israeli captives as a gesture of flexibility during ongoing negotiations. The Palestinian group, in a Telegram post at the time, also highlighted the core issues that are being negotiated, including the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip.
Israel has blocked the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip since March 2, in violation of the ceasefire deal the mediators had reached.
The besieged enclave is currently suffering from alarming hunger levels caused by the blockade, with one million children at the risk of losing their lives due to severe malnutrition.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians, although the figure does not include thousands trapped under the rubble. Israel has also killed more than 1,000 Palestinians at aid distribution sites, which have been widely labelled as “death traps”.
A total of 86 people have also died due to malnutrition, including 76 children, with the figure only expected to rise at an alarming rate as Israel continues to block the entry of aid.
