Washington:
A framework for a halt in fighting in Gaza and the release of hostages is to be relayed to Hamas, Qatar’s prime minister said Monday following meetings with US, Israeli and Egyptian officials.
Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, has led mediation efforts since war broke out on October 7 between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s deadly attacks on southern Israel.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, speaking in Washington at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank, said “good progress” had been made during the talks in Paris.
The Qatari premier confirmed the meetings with CIA chief Bill Burns and top Israeli and Egyptian security officials had resulted in a framework for a phased truce that would see women and children hostages released first, with aid also entering the besieged Gaza Strip.
The parties were “hoping to relay this proposal to Hamas and to get them to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process”, he said.
Sheikh Mohammed added that Hamas had made “a clear demand” for a “permanent ceasefire ahead of the negotiations”, and that the current proposal “might lead to a ceasefire permanently in the future”.
Israel says around 132 of the 250 hostages seized in Hamas’s October 7 attacks remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead captives.
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