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Qatar's prime minister on Wednesday announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that will pause the devastating 15-month war in Gaza and clear the way for dozens of Israeli hostages to go home. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced the agreement in the Qatari capital of Doha, the site of weeks of painstaking negotiations. He said the deal would go into effect on Sunday. Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal to pause the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, multiple officials announced on Wednesday, raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies. The deal, coming after weeks of painstaking negotiations in the Qatari capital, promises the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in phases, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel and would allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes. It also would flood badly needed ..
A new round of peace talks aimed at ending the Gaza war started on Thursday, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said. The United States, Qatar and Egypt met with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war climbed past 40,000, according to Gaza health authorities. International mediators were set to hold a new round of talks Thursday aimed at halting the Israel-Hamas war and securing the release of scores of hostages, with a potential deal seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict. The United States, Qatar and Egypt were to meet with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war climbed past 40,000, according to local health authorities. Hamas, which is not expected to participate directly, accuses Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had US and international support and to which Hamas had agreed in principle. A cease-fire in Gaza wo
US President Joe Biden on Friday wrote to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, calling on them to press Hamas for hostage deal with Israel, according to a senior administration official, one day after Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to redouble efforts to reach a cease-fire in the six-month-old war in Gaza. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private letters, said Biden's national security adviser will meet Monday with family members of some of the estimated 100 hostages who are believed to still be in Gaza. The letters come as Biden has deployed CIA Director Bill Burns to Cairo for talks this weekend about the hostage crisis.