From the Liveblog of
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Qatar says Hamas has given ‘initial positive confirmation’ to hostage-truce deal
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announces that Hamas has given its “initial positive confirmation” to a proposed deal that would see hostages freed and fighting in Gaza stop for a period of time.
It says Israel has agreed to the proposal, confirming reports that Jerusalem okayed the deal at negotiations in Paris on Sunday.
“The meeting in Paris succeeded in consolidating the proposals… That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side,” Majed al-Ansari said referring to meetings between Qatari, US, Israeli and Egyptian officials in the French capital.
Israel’s War Cabinet is meeting right now.
Channel 13 News quotes a senior Israeli official denying that anything was approved by Jerusalem.
Channel 12 says Israel has yet to receive any formal response from Qatar to the proposed deal.
