Qatari PM notes progress in hostage talks; Turkish FM says terror group open to lasting peace deal

DOHA, Qatar — Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says that he noticed some progress in Thursday’s Gaza ceasefire-hostage release talks.

Leaders of the Hamas terror group recently met mediators in Cairo for ceasefire talks.

“We have seen on Thursday a bit of progress compared to other meetings, yet we need to find an answer for the ultimate question: how to end this war. That’s the key point of the entire negotiations,” says Al Thani. “When you don’t have a common objective, a common goal between the parties, I believe the opportunities [to end the war] become very thin.”

Speaking alongside him, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that talks with Hamas in recent days had shown the terror group would be more open to an agreement that goes beyond a ceasefire in Gaza and aims for a lasting solution to the crisis with Israel.

On April 19, Fidan and Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, held talks with Hamas officials in Ankara to discuss the latest efforts for a ceasefire and the situation in Gaza.

Fidan says those talks showed Hamas would be more willing to sign a deal that also addresses the issue of Palestinian territories and other issues, adding that the crisis could be turned into an opportunity to implement the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.