14 January 2025
Mediator Qatar says ‘key issues’ resolved, ceasefire talks at ‘closest point’ to settlement
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry is reporting a major “success” in long-running and so far inconclusive international ceasefire talks for Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
The Gulf country, one of the leading mediators in the talks, said it was “hopeful” that the talks had reached their “final stage”.
“I can confirm that talks are ongoing at the highest level in Doha,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari told a news briefing on Tuesday.
“During the last months, there were underlying issues, major issues unresolved between the two sides. These issues were resolved during negotiations over the last few weeks, and so we have reached a point where the major issues that lead to an agreement “Incidents were taken into consideration,” he said.
Al-Ansari said talks now focused on “the final details of reaching an agreement.”
Israel sent David Barnia, the head of its Mossad spy agency, to the talks in Doha over the weekend.
This is not the first time that one of the key negotiators – whether Qatar, the US or Egypt – has hailed a breakthrough in talks and the possibility of an imminent power grab.
The timing of this latest effort is also evident internationally, coming in the final days before the January 20 inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
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