From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Hamas expresses optimism over hostage talks as delegation travels to Qatar
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleGianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk tells the Qatari daily al-Araby al-Jadeed “there is a good chance that negotiations will succeed this time.”
His comments come as a Hamas delegation was said to leave Cairo for Doha today to continue talks with mediators.
No Israeli delegation is expected to take part in talks in Qatar tomorrow.
The optimism from Hamas contradicts recent assessments in Israel that talks have ground to a halt over the terror group’s refusal to provide Israel with a list of living hostages to release.
Another Hamas official, Jihad Taha, tells the Qatari outlet that the Hamas delegation has met with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators in Cairo “in order to overcome the obstacles and conditions put recently by the Israeli side with the goal to continue the aggression against our people,” adding that “Hamas is dealing positively and openly with all the issues.”
Al-Araby al-Jadeed reports that talks in Cairo revolved around the possibility to postpone negotiations on some sticking points until after the first stage of a ceasefire. The paper claims that the proposal, to which Hamas has reportedly agreed, will be submitted to the Israeli side in an attempt to reach an agreement before US President-elect Donald Trump, takes office on January 20. But it is not clear when and where mediators will sit down with an Israeli delegation in the near future.
The Times of Israel Community.