Israeli officials struggle to conceal frustrations as Gaza truce nears
A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is at its closest point, according to officials involved in negotiations in Doha.
With expectations that an announcement is immininent, Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said that final details were being discussed on Tuesday.
“Negotiations are taking place on final details but we have ironed out the main obstacles,” he told a news conference.
“Today we are closest to any time in the past to a deal. The situation is still fluid but we are all upbeat.”
Joe Biden, the outgoing US president, said an agreement would “free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians”.
A Palestinian source close to discussions told Reuters that he expected a deal to be finalised on Tuesday “if all goes well”.
The incoming Donald Trump administration appears to have played a significant part in negotiations, according to multiple reports in Israeli media.
Haaretz reported that Steven Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, last week told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides that he would be arriving in Israel on Saturday afternoon.
The aides said that was the middle of the Sabbath and the meeting would need to occur in the evening, which reportedly was “of no interest” to Witkoff, who pressed ahead with the meeting regardless.
A senior Israeli diplomat told Haaretz that Witkoff, a Jewish real estate investor without a diplomatic background, “charges ahead unusually aggressively”.
The Times of Israel reported, citing two Israeli officials, that the meeting between Witkoff and Netanyahu was “tense”.
It said that while the prime minister wanted a deal bringing about only a temporary truce, the agreement being finalised would include second and third phases, making it harder for Israel to resume hostilities. [Continue reading…]