Special Envoy Witkoff met with Qatar's Prime Minister to prevent Israel's plans to occupy the Gaza Strip
Kyiv • UNN
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Qatar's Prime Minister Abdulrahman al-Thani discussed a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. This happened amid diplomatic activity aimed at preventing Israel's plan to expand its occupation of Gaza.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatari Prime Minister Abdulrahman al-Thani in Spain on Saturday to discuss ending the war in the Gaza Strip and releasing all 50 hostages still held by the Hamas terrorist organization. This comes amid diplomatic activity aimed at preventing Israel's plan to expand its occupation of Gaza, UNN reports, citing The Times of Israel.
Details
Meanwhile, Ynet, citing sources close to Hamas, reported that the US, Qatar, and Egypt are facilitating intensive negotiations with Israel to prevent it from seizing the entire Gaza Strip, after the cabinet decided on Thursday night to Friday to seize the enclave, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel's intention is to temporarily take control of all of Gaza.
The ceasefire proposal under consideration includes a full withdrawal of Israeli troops, demilitarization of Palestinian armed groups, expulsion of Hamas military leaders, and the establishment of a new civilian authority in Gaza, sources said, adding that Hamas is ready to resume fighting if the proposal is rejected.
Witkoff and al-Thani met in Ibiza as Qatar and the US hoped to present Israel and Hamas with a comprehensive proposal for a genuine hostage deal within the next two weeks, Axios reported, citing two sources familiar with the meeting's history. An Israeli cabinet minister said that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer informed the cabinet that Washington is working on an "Endgame" proposal for the war. It is unclear from the report what this proposal entails.
According to Jewish media reports, Dermer reportedly raised the "Endgame" plan even before the cabinet approved the plan to seize Gaza City, for which Dermer voted "yes."
An Israeli official involved in the negotiations said that "the gap between Israel and Hamas regarding ending the war is huge, so talks about a comprehensive agreement at this stage are likely meaningless." Rubio accused Macron. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused French President Emmanuel Macron of disrupting negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas group.
The head of American diplomacy noted that negotiations with Hamas broke down on the day Macron made a unilateral decision to recognize the Palestinian state.
If I were Hamas, I would decide like this: "Let's not make a truce... because we can be rewarded, we can consider it a victory
Rubio added that after Macron's statement, other countries joined in and stated that "if a ceasefire is not reached by September, we will recognize the Palestinian state."
Addition
On Saturday evening, August 9, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to escalate the nearly two-year war in Gaza, demanding an immediate end to the campaign and the release of hostages.