Qatar's Prime Minister has said "good progress" was made during a meeting between intelligence officials from Egypt, Israel, and the United States to discuss hostage release and a potential ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel.
Spy chiefs from the three countries, which have been leading ceasefire negotiations, met over the weekend in the French capital, Paris.
Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, confirmed on Monday that the parties discussed a potential deal that would include the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip and a phased truce that would first release women and children.
"We are hoping to relay this proposal to Hamas and to get them to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process," Al Thani said during an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC.
Al Thani also claimed that Hamas had demanded a permanent ceasefire as a precondition to engage in negotiations. He said that he believed they moved from a place that might lead to a permanent ceasefire.
He assured that talks are in a much better place than where they were a few weeks ago.
Qatar and Egypt mediated a seven-day truce in November in which Hamas released over 100 of the 253 people it abducted during the cross-border raid on October 7 that started the Gaza War.
In return, Israel released many Palestinian prisoners and approved additional aid for the destroyed enclave.
Netanyahu Rejects Hamas Deal To End War
Since then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced mounting pressure on multiple fronts as members of his far-right ruling coalition have called for an escalation of the war, the families of the captives want a deal to secure the return of their loved ones, and the US has criticized Israel over the civilian death toll in Gaza.
Netanyahu rejected a proposal by Hamas to end the war and release hostages last week in exchange for withdrawing Israeli forces, releasing prisoners, and accepting the armed group's governance of Gaza.
He said that accepting Hamas's terms would mean leaving the armed group "intact" and that Israel's soldiers had "fallen in vain." He has frequently stated that only a maximum pressure campaign would prompt the group to release all the hostages.
In response to earlier allegations by Netanyahu that Qatar has failed to use its leverage to put pressure on Hamas, Al Thani stated that his nation is not "a superpower that can impose something on a party."
Doha hosts Hamas's political office and is the primary residence of senior political figure Ismail Haniyeh.
"We are using our good offices to connect, bridge gaps, to come up with some alternatives. And this way has worked," he said, referring to previous mediations facilitated by Qatar.
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