Qatar, Egypt officials engage Hamas for Gaza truce talks in Doha

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Hamas members in Doha on Wednesday for talks on a Gaza truce, a source told AFP.

The lead mediators met with the Palestinian group to “discuss a deal for a truce in Gaza and the exchange of hostages and prisoners”, the source said on condition of anonymity because of sensitivity of the talks.

CIA chief Bill Burns was also expected in Qatar to continue working with mediators to reach an agreement on a cessation of hostilities, the same informed source had told AFP on Tuesday.

Brett McGurk, Biden’s top Middle East adviser, was headed to Cairo, according to news site Axios which quoted an administration source as talking of a “full-court press… to get a breakthrough”.

Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in months of negotiations over details for a ceasefire in Gaza.

But except for a seven-day break in hostilities beginning in November that led to the release of more than 100 hostages, the mediation efforts have not stopped the fighting.

Seeking to restart talks, US President Joe Biden said last week Israel was offering a new three-stage roadmap.

On Wednesday, Qatar-based Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the Palestinian group sought a “comprehensive cessation of aggression” in Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal.

The leader of Hamas’s political office also urged a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners.

“Hamas is conducting the negotiations armed with this stance,” Haniyeh said.

Qatar has hosted the political leadership in Doha since 2012 at the behest of the United States.