DOHA: Negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are continuing but “need time”, host Qatar cautioned on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism about a possible breakthrough.
A fresh round of indirect talks, after 21 months of fighting in Gaza, began on Sunday, with Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari confirming discussions had gone into a third day.
“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,“ Majed Al-Ansari told reporters at a regular briefing, when asked if a deal was close.
Qatar, along with fellow mediators the United States and Egypt, has brokered back-and-forth talks aimed at a truce since the earliest days of the war, which erupted with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
With the exception of a week-long truce in November 2023 and a two-month halt that began in January 2025, the indirect talks, principally held in Doha and Cairo, have failed to end the hostilities.
Trump, during Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, earlier said the Doha talks were going “very well” and that Hamas “want to have that ceasefire”.
Ansari declined to go into detail about the negotiations, but said they were focused on a framework for talks.
“What is happening right now is that both delegations are in Doha, we are speaking with them separately on a framework for the talks,“ he said.
“So talks have not begun, as of yet, but we are talking to both sides over that framework,“ he added.
Ansari noted “positive engagement” and said the fact that the negotiating teams hadn’t left the Qatari capital was “always a good sign”.
Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions earlier told AFP the proposed deal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.
At the outset of the talks, Netanyahu said Hamas’s response to a US-backed ceasefire proposal, conveyed through mediators, contained “unacceptable” demands. – AFP
