U.S. and Israeli negotiators to travel to Doha with hopes of resuming Gaza cease-fire talks

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 cease-fire deal and secure the release of hostages in Gaza. 

Israeli forces killed Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas, 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 hoping to achieve a breakthrough.

“We have an opportunity today to talk about the way forward, the effort to bring the hostages home and to get a cease-fire,” Blinken said at a news conference in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. “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 whether 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, previously reported by NBC News, for a two-week cease-fire in exchange for the release of six hostages. 

Mohammed said that discussions between Egypt and Hamas continue and that 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. Mohammed said that they had held meetings with the political wing of the terrorist organization in the last few days and that “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 this month, Blinken and Defense Secretary 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 that the U.S. had seen Israel take some positive steps but that 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.