Hamas has given “initial positive confirmation” to a proposal for the cessation of fighting in Gaza and the release of hostages, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said.
US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators met with Israeli intelligence officials in Paris on Sunday where they proposed a six-week pause in the Gaza war and a hostage-prisoner exchange for Hamas to review.
“That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas’ side,” Majed al-Ansari told an audience at a Washington-based graduate school.
The Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said there was “still a very tough road in front of us”.
“We are optimistic because both sides now agreed to the premise that would lead to a next pause,” said Ansari.
“We’re hopeful that in the next couple of weeks, we’ll be able to share good news about that,” he added.
The Qatar-based leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was expected in Cairo on Thursday or Friday for talks on a proposed truce.
Previously, Qatar mediated a one-week break in fighting that began in November and led to the release of scores of Israeli and foreign hostages, as well as aid entering the besieged Palestinian territory.
The war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,163 people.
Militants also seized about 250 hostages. Israel says 132 of them remain in Gaza including at least 27 people believed to have been killed.
Following the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, its military launched a withering air, land and sea offensive that has killed at least 27,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
