Qatari PM says Israel-Hamas talks on Gaza truce, hostage deal are ‘stalling’
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani says Cairo-based negotiations are at ‘sensitive stage,’ urges international community to work toward ending war
DOHA, Qatar — Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure a truce in Gaza and a release of hostages have stalled, Qatar’s prime minister said on Wednesday.
“We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this stalling,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told a news conference with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages — kidnapped by Hamas during its October 7 massacre — in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Negotiators are trying to “move forward and put an end to the suffering that the people in Gaza are experiencing and returning the hostages,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
More than six months after Hamas’s onslaught, 129 hostages kidnapped from Israel are believed to remain in Gaza, with at least 34 of them confirmed dead, out of the 253 captured on October 7. Their families have grown increasingly desperate, holding months of rallies demanding that the government reach a deal to secure their release.
The mediators had hoped to secure a ceasefire before the start of Ramadan in March, but progress repeatedly faltered without any cessation of hostilities in the Muslim holy month that ended last week. Instead, fears have grown of the months-long war in Gaza spilling over into a regional conflict after Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel this weekend.
The Qatari premier said Doha had “warned from the beginning of this war against the expansion of the circle of conflict, and today we see conflicts on different fronts.”
“We constantly call on the international community to assume its responsibilities and stop this war,” he added, saying people of Gaza faced “siege and starvation” with humanitarian aid being used as a “tool for political blackmail.”
A weeklong truce deal reached in late November saw 105 hostages freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian security prisoners. Three hostages have been rescued alive by the IDF, four were released prior to the deal and the bodies of 12 hostages have been recovered by troops from Gaza.
A recent round of truce talks started on April 7 in Cairo, but have so far brought no breakthrough on a plan presented by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
The proposal was widely reported to offer a temporary ceasefire of at least several weeks in return for the release of dozens of hostages. Israel would also set free hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners held in its jails alongside enabling a boost in aid to Gaza, where a humanitarian crisis has ballooned amid the fighting.
Hamas over the weekend rebuffed the offer. Israel said the rejection shows that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is not interested in a humanitarian agreement, and is instead trying to take advantage of the burgeoning tensions with Iran.
