'The momentum is coming back': Qatar's PM on progress in Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks

Since the US presidential election, the momentum has been coming back in negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, said Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani

Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. (Photo: AFP)

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said that negotiations between Israel and Hamas have gained momentum in recent days.

For nearly a year, Qatar and Egypt mediated indirect talks between Israel and Hamas facilitated by the United States. Last month, however, Qatar withdrew from mediation over lack of seriousness from both the sides and exiled leaders of Hamas.

Following intervention by US President-elect Donald Trump and the perceived change in Hamas’ stance, Al Thani has now indicated that progress has been made in the talks for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

“We have sensed after the election that the momentum is coming back,” said Al Thani in Doha on Saturday.

On November 22, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East Envoy, travelled to Qatar and held a meeting with Al Thani. The next day, he travelled to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following the visits, Al Thani travelled to Austrian capital Vienna to on Nov. 24 for a meeting with David Barnea, the chief of Israeli external intelligence agency Mossad, who has served as Israel’s lead negotiator.

Hamas appears open to Israel’s demands

In the wake of sustained military and diplomatic pressure, Hamas appears to be open to some of Israel’s more contentious demands.

For several months, the talks have been essentially stalled over the maximalist demands of Netanyahu, who amended the original proposal floated in May last year in August to insert a bunch of new demands.

However, after Hamas and its allies Iran and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been battered by the erosion of their war-waging abilities and the assassination of much of their leadership, there are signs that Hamas is now willing to let even Israeli troops occupy portions of Gaza in lieu of a ceasefire.

Five Israeli officials told The New York Times that there is intelligence, following Hamas’ meetings with Iranian, Turkish, and Egyptian officials, that Hamas is ready to compromise on some of its conditions that were previously not open to a compromise.

Netanyahu has demanded that Israeli forces would continue to control two corridors in Gaza even after a ceasefire: the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border and Netzarim Corridor along central Gaza that essentially divides the Palestinian enclave into two halves.

Netanyahu on Sunday told relatives of hostages that Hamas has shown “greater flexibility” in ceasefire talks, three people part of the meetings told The Times.

“He said there was a change, a crack in Hamas, that enabled us to reach better terms than in the past. He didn’t go into details, but from his confidence, I got the impression that matters were relatively advanced,” said Gil Dickmann, a cousin of a hostages killed by Hamas captors in August.

Separately, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday said that Hamas “might have changed” its stance on conditions for the release of hostages, without giving any specifics.

Speaking along the same lines, Al Thani in Doha said that a deal between Israel and Hamas depended on political will and not on technical details. He added that most of the details have been worked out.