Qatar is mediating negotiations between Israel and Hamas for the potential release of 10-15 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a humanitarian pause in fighting, a source briefed on the talks told AFP Wednesday.
“Negotiations mediated by the Qataris in coordination with the US are ongoing to secure the release of 10-15 hostages in exchange for a one- to two-day ceasefire,” the informed source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the talks’ sensitivity.
This handout picture released by Qatar’s Amiri Diwan shows Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (3rd-R) and his Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani (2nd-R) meeting with the Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte (4th-R) at the Amiri Diwan in Doha on November 8, 2023. (Photo by Qatar Amiri Diwan / AFP)
Fighting has raged in Gaza for over a month following the Palestinian militant group’s shock October 7 attack that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 240 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. In Gaza, 10,569 people, also mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory has said.
Qatar has been engaged in intense diplomacy to secure the release of those held by Hamas, negotiating the handover of four hostages — two Israelis and two Americans — in recent weeks. The wealthy Gulf emirate has been a fierce supporter of the Palestinian cause and has open channels of communication with Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza.
Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, also hosts the political office of Hamas and is the main residence of its self-exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh. Amid repeated calls for a ceasefire, Qatar has lamented the escalating violence visited on Gaza and its 2.3 million inhabitants saying the Israeli bombing undermines mediation efforts and de-escalation.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Qatar’s prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said the Gulf state was “determined to continue its mediation”, despite the difficulties on the ground “caused by the actions of the Israeli occupation”.
The G7 grouping of economically advanced nations called on Wednesday for “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in the conflict but refrained from calling for a ceasefire during talks in Japan.
