Qatar PM sees ‘momentum’ on Gaza talks after US election

Qatar’s prime minister said on Saturday that momentum had returned to talks aimed at securing a truce and hostage exchange deal in Gaza following Donald Trump’s election as US president.
The Gulf emirate, along with the United States and Egypt, had been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release.
But in November, Doha announced it had put its mediation on hold, saying it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed “willingness and seriousness”.
“We have sensed, after the election, that the momentum is coming back,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told the Doha Forum for political dialogue.
He spoke as a source close to the Hamas delegation in the talks told AFP that a new round of negotiations will “most likely” begin in the coming week.
Sheikh Mohammed said that while there were “some differences” in the approach to an agreement by the outgoing and incoming US administrations, “we didn’t see or recognise any disagreement on the goal itself to end the war”.
 
– ‘Encouragement’ –
He said there had been “a lot of encouragement from the incoming administration in order to achieve a deal, even before the president comes to the office”, adding this had affected Qatar’s decision to get talks “back on track”.
“We hope to get things done as soon as possible. We hope that the willingness of the parties to engage in a good faith continues,” he said.
The source close to the Hamas delegation, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: “Based on contacts with the mediators, we expect a new round of negotiations to begin in Cairo, most likely this week, to discuss ideas and proposals regarding a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange.”
The source added that Turkey, as well as Egypt and Qatar, had been “making commendable efforts to stop the war”.
In a statement later on Saturday, the group said Turkish spy chief Ibrahim Kalin met with a Hamas delegation in Doha to discuss the war in Gaza.   
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
During the attack, militants kidnapped 251 people, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli military.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 44,664 people, a majority civilians, according to figures from the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry which the UN considers reliable.
The US president-elect this week warned on social media of unspecified massive repercussions if the hostages were not released by the time he takes office next month.
Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with outgoing President Joe Biden’s occasional criticism, but has also spoken of his desire to secure deals on the world stage.
On Saturday, Qatar’s premier dismissed the prospect of his country facing greater pressure over the status of the Hamas political bureau, which the Gulf state has hosted since 2012 with Washington’s blessing.
Sheikh Mohammed called the Hamas office a “platform to convene between the different parties”.
Qatar was not “expected to enforce solutions” on the Palestinian militants, he added.