From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Israeli officials were in Qatar this week in attempt to nail down hostage deal – report
The Saudi-owned Elaph news outlet reports that Israeli officials held a secretive meeting in Qatar earlier this week to try and bridge the gap between the agreed-upon hostage deal outline and Hamas’s demands for alterations.
Citing an unnamed official familiar with the negotiations, Elaph reports that the meeting focused largely on fine-tuning technical aspects of the outline that was presented by US President Joe Biden last month, such as the number of living hostages that will be released in the first phase, and how long it will last.
According to the report, Qatar has continued to pressure Hamas into accepting the deal as it was offered, after the terror group responded with an altered version that included demands the US said were “not workable.”
The Times of Israel Community.