AFP:
Qatar said Tuesday more time was needed for negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism about a possible breakthrough.
“I don’t think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said as indirect negotiations continued into a third day in Doha.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington, meanwhile, on his third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power.
Trump, who is pushing for a ceasefire, expressed confidence a deal could be reached, saying: “I don’t think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well.”
Qatar, a mediator along with the United States and Egypt, said the meetings in Doha were focused on a framework for the talks, while a Palestinian official close to the negotiations said no breakthrough had been achieved so far.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff was set to join the talks in Doha this week.
On the ground, five Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in northern Gaza – one of the deadliest days this year for Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory.
Gaza’s civil defense meanwhile reported 29 killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday.
Israel and Hamas began the latest round of negotiations on Sunday, with representatives seated in separate rooms within the same building.
At the White House, sitting across from Netanyahu, Trump said Hamas was willing to end the Gaza conflict, now in its 22nd month.
“They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire,” Trump said when asked if ongoing clashes would derail talks.
An Israeli official accompanying Netanyahu to Washington said the proposal under discussion was “80-90 percent of what Israel wanted.”
“I believe that with military and political pressure, all the hostages can be returned,” the official told Israeli media.
