Israeli security and political chiefs are expected to arrive in Qatar on Sunday for high-level talks on a proposed ceasefire deal in Gaza that would see the release of hostages in the final days of President Biden’s term and before Donald J. Trump take office.
Biden administration officials have pushed for a deal that would become part of the outgoing president’s legacy, and Trump has warned that “all hell will break loose in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the hostages before he takes office next January. 20.
Lower-level negotiations have begun in recent weeks, after months of stalemate.
While some progress has been made, disagreements remain on several key points, including the timing and scope of Israel’s redeployments and withdrawal from Gaza and its desire to end the war, according to several officials and a Palestinian familiar with the matter . They spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are taking place in secret and they are not authorized to discuss the details publicly.
Representatives of the outgoing and incoming American presidents have cooperated on the issue, the Biden administration said, while Qatar and Egypt are mediating between Israel and Hamas.
Brett M. McGurk, Biden’s Middle East coordinator, was already in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to put together the final details of an agreement text to be presented to the two sides, said Jake Sullivan, national security adviser of the president, on “State of the Union” Sunday on CNN.
“We’re very, very close, and yet being very close still means we’re far away because until we actually get to the finish line we’re not there,” Sullivan said.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s designated Middle East envoy, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Saturday. On Friday, Witkoff was in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani for talks focused on efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, according to Qatar. Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Netanyahu’s office announced late Saturday that it had discussed the issue with Israeli security chiefs and negotiators from both the outgoing and incoming U.S. administrations. He also instructed top Israeli negotiators – including David Barnea, the head of the Mossad intelligence agency – to leave for Qatar with the aim of pushing forward a deal, Netanyahu’s office said.
Disagreements remain between Israel and Hamas on the key issue of whether the ceasefire will remain, with Netanyahu still reluctant to declare an end to the war as part of a three-phase agreement established by Biden last May.
Israel insists on a vaguer formula that leaves room for ambiguity, according to the Palestinian familiar with the matter and two Israeli officials. Another official familiar with the matter said the Americans should have given the mediators assurances that the United States would work to end the war, although Israel did not agree to any exact phrases.
Hamas is also asking Israel for detailed maps showing where it will retreat, but Israel has not provided them, according to officials and Palestinians familiar with the matter. They added that disagreements remain over the timing of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Philadelphia Corridor, a strip of land bordering Gaza’s border with Egypt.
Nearly 100 hostages seized during the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, of approximately 250 captured, remain in Gaza. Israel believes at least a third of the remaining hostages are dead.
Both Israel and Hamas have shown signs of wanting to resolve outstanding issues, as pressure from the United States and the Israeli public grows. Hamas officials indicated last week that the group had approved an Israeli list of 34 hostages to be released in the first phase of a deal.
But Israel said last week that it had received no information from Hamas regarding the status of the hostages on the list, which includes what it considers the most vulnerable and urgent cases: women and children, men over 50 and several sick or injured hostages.
Israel has asked Hamas for a list of hostages still alive. Without this, Israeli officials say, there can be no agreement on how many Palestinian prisoners Israel would be willing to release in exchange for them. As of Sunday morning, Israel had not received a list of live hostages, according to one of the officials familiar with the matter.
The body of one of the hostages whose name was on the list of 34 – Youssef Ziyadne, 53, an Arab citizen of Israel – was found last week by Israeli forces in a tunnel in Gaza along with the remains of his son, Hamza Ziyadne , who was also captured during the 2023 attack.
The Israeli army brought the remains of both men back to Israel for burial.
Sullivan, the US national security adviser, said Biden would have a phone call with Netanyahu soon, but stressed that the main obstacle to a deal was Hamas.
“We’re not putting this aside at all,” Sullivan said. “There’s a chance this will all come together. There is also the possibility, as has happened many times in the past, that Hamas in particular remains intransigent.”
Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington.