The White House announced that US President Joe Biden had a conversation with the emir of Qatar regarding efforts to release the hostages that Hamas continues to hold in Gaza.
The conversation took place on Friday, before the chief of the CIA’s scheduled meeting in Europe with the prime minister of Qatar, and his equivalents from Egypt and Israel, to discuss a truce and the release of the last hostages in the Israeli-Hamas conflict, according to US media.
Due to its role in mediating the November hostage release agreement, Qatar is crucial. According to John Kirby, a spokesperson for national security at the White House, Biden also had a conversation with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday.
The November exchange took place amid a week-long ceasefire in which Hamas released about 100 captives in return for 240 Palestinians detained in Israel.
A fresh ceasefire is being negotiated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US; Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, is now in the area to conduct negotiations.
Israel reportedly offered Hamas a two-month ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of all hostages, according to news reports from Axios.
Around 1,140 people died in Israel as a result of Hamas’ October 7 strike, the majority of whom were civilians, according to an AFP count based on officials.
To crush Hamas, Israel initiated an unrelenting military campaign in the Palestinian territory that, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, has killed at least 26,083 individuals, the majority of whom were women and children.
