• Negotiators “are certainly working” in truce, Netanyahu says to journalists
• Qatar insists on ‘We will need time’ for the high fire
• The Palestinian official says there is no progress achieved so far
Doha: Gaza Ceasefire’s indirect conversations resumed on Tuesday in Qatar, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington to meet the president of the United States, Donald Trump, who expressed optimism about a possible advance.
Qatar, a mediator together with the United States and Egypt, said the meetings focused on a “frame” for conversations. Qatar said that negotiations for a high fire between Israel and Hamas continue but “need time.”
A new round of indirect conversations, after 21 months of fighting in Gaza Strip, began on Sunday, with the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, Majed Al-Ansari, confirming that the discussions had entered a third day.
“I don’t think I can give any timeline at this time, but I can say at this time that we will need time for this,” said Majed Al-Ansari to journalists in a regular informative session, when asked if an agreement was close.
“Indirect negotiations continue this morning in Doha, with a fourth meeting held … the discussions still focus on the mechanisms for implementation, particularly the clauses related to withdrawal and humanitarian aid,” said a Palestinian official close to conversations. AFP.
“So far no progress has been achieved, and the negotiations are ongoing,” said another Palestinian official.
Israel and Hamas began the last round of negotiations on Sunday, with representatives sitting in separate rooms inside the same building.
Netanyahu’s trip to Washington is his third visit from Trump’s return to charge. On Monday, Trump expressed his trust, an agreement could be reached.
“I don’t think there is a delay. I think things are going very well,” Trump told reporters when asked what an agreement was avoiding.
Sitting in front of Netanyahu in the White House, Trump said Hamas was willing to finish Gaza’s conflict, now entering his 22nd month.
“They want to meet and want to be tall the fire,” Trump said when asked if the ongoing clashes would derail the conversations.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, would join the conversations in Doha this week.
Trump-Nanyahu meeting
Trump and Netanyahu will meet again on Tuesday night to talk about Gaza, one day after they met for hours, while officials carried out indirect negotiations in a high fire in the United States.
Netanyahu spent much of Tuesday at the United States Capitol, telling journalists after a meeting with the president of the Mike Johnson representatives who, although he did not believe that Israel’s campaign in the Palestinian enclave is over, negotiators “are certainly working” in a high fire.
“We still have to finish the work in Gaza, free all our hostages, eliminate and destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
Shortly after Netanyahu spoke, Steve Witkoff said he hoped to reach a high temporary fire agreement this week.
“We hope that by the end of this week, we will have an agreement that will bring us to a high fire of 60 days. Ten hostages will be published.
An Israeli official who accompanies Netanyahu to Washington said that the proposal under discussion was “80-90 percent of what Israel wanted.” “I think that with military and political pressure,” all prisoners can be returned, the official told Israeli media.
According to Ariel Kahana of Israel Hayom Daily, “President Trump and his advisors are currently exercising considerable effort to reach an agreement” that would lead to the liberation of prisoners and could even end the war in Gaza.
However, the Minister of National Security of the extreme right, Ben Gvir, opposed the negotiations with Hamas, saying that “there is no need to negotiate with those who murder our combatants; they must be torn by crushing.”
While Israel has the complete support of the Trump administration, the American leader has more and more pressed the end of what he called the “hell” in Gaza and said Sunday that he believes that there is a “good opportunity” of an agreement next week. “The highest priority for the president at this time in the Middle East is to end the war in Gaza and return all the prisoners,” said White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
Posted in Dawn, July 9, 2025
