ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - After months of wrangling, key mediator Qatar announced on Tuesday that major obstacles blocking a ceasefire and hostage exchange between Palestinian Hamas and the Israeli military in Gaza have been “addressed” and that they were in “the final stages”.
"During the past months, there were underlying issues, major issues between the two parties unresolved,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference. "These issues were resolved during the talks in the past couple of weeks, and therefore, we have reached a point where the major issues that were preventing a deal from happening were addressed.”
He went on to say "We do believe that we are at the final stages... certainly we are hopeful that this would lead very soon to an agreement," and added, "until there is an announcement... we should not be over-excited about what's happening right now".
The United States, Egypt, and Qatar were the major three sides trying to mediate and broker a ceasefire to end the 15-month-long bloody war and secure the release of dozens of hostages captured by Hamas when they surprisingly attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas, for their part, said on Tuesday that they hoped for a "clear and comprehensive agreement” at the end of ongoing indirect negotiations in Doha for a Gaza truce.
Hamas said in a statement it had held consultations with leaders of other Palestinian factions "where it informed them of the progress made in the negotiations underway in Doha," adding that the completion of the agreement "has reached its final stages.”
Once the ceasefire is brokered, Israel will release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in the first stage of the truce in exchange for 33 hostages, two Palestinian sources told AFP on Tuesday.
More than 46,500 people, including 19 over the past 24 hours, have been killed and over 109,000 wounded in more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, according to the latest tally announced by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
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