U.S. and Israeli negotiators will travel to Doha in the coming days, the top diplomats for U.S. and Qatar said Thursday, intending to resume long-stalled talks to reach a ceasefire deal and secure the release of hostages in Gaza.
The announcement comes after Israeli forces killed Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas, earlier this month and the militant group continues its search for a new leader. The Biden administration believes Sinwar was the main obstacle to an agreement and Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the region this week with the hopes of achieving a breakthrough.
“We have an opportunity today to talk about the way forward, the effort to bring the hostages home and to get a ceasefire,” Blinken said in a press conference with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha. “We talked about options to capitalize and make steps to move the process forward, and I anticipate that negotiators will be getting together in the coming days.”
Blinken acknowledged it was not immediately clear if Hamas was prepared to engage but said the U.S. is in conversations with their intermediaries Egypt and Qatar about “whether there are different options that we can pursue” to reach an agreement.
Among the options is an Egyptian proposal, as previously reported by NBC News, for a two-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of six hostages.
Qatari Sheikh Mohammed said there are ongoing discussions between Egypt and Hamas even today and he “hopes the discussions will yield something positive” for the talks that follow.
Still, it is not immediately clear who would be the decision maker for any proposal brought forward to Hamas, which has yet to choose Sinwar’s successor. The Qatari prime minister said they had held meetings with the political wing of the terrorist organization in the last few days and “there is no clarity what will be the way forward.”
The slow-moving diplomacy continues amid the backdrop of an increasingly dire humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip.
In a letter earlier this month, Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin gave Israel 30 days to increase basic humanitarian aid to Gaza or face restrictions on U.S. military assistance as required under U.S. law.
Speaking from Doha, Blinken said the U.S. had seen Israel take some positive steps but it is not enough to get assistance to the borders of Gaza.
“What’s so critical is that the aid gets to the people who need it,” he said.
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