The United States and Qatar announced Wednesday that the fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel has opened a potential window to reignite stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a possible truce and hostage exchange deal in Gaza.
Majed Al Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, told CNN that Doha has maintained active communication with “all sides” involved in the hostage discussions. He said they hoped to use the momentum generated by the Iran-Israel ceasefire to advance the talks—remarks that closely mirrored those made by President Trump.
“This is the time now for President Trump to push for it and we believe he is sincere about it,” said Ansari. “We are willing to help on that.”
Ansari acknowledged that the truce had given the talks a boost, but warned against premature optimism.
“There was momentum created by the ceasefire in Iran and Israel,” he continued, “but we’re not out of the woods yet. There are a lot of details that I can’t discuss right now about the deal in place, but I can tell you it’s the same parameters that keep going in and out of the talks.”
He also addressed the tensions following Iran’s retaliatory strike on a U.S. base in Qatar, calling it a serious blow to Doha’s ties with Tehran.
Ansari’s remarks came on the heels of Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani’s statement a day earlier that “discussions are ongoing” with both Israel and Hamas, referring to a proposal reportedly put forward by the United States.
Speaking from the NATO summit in The Hague, President Trump said that Sunday’s U.S. military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities had produced “great progress” in the efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire.
“I think that because of this attack that we made… we’re going to have some very good news,” he said. “Gaza is very close.”
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu confirmed to AFP on Wednesday that efforts to reach a deal had intensified.
“Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have intensified in recent hours,” said al-Nunu.
Still, he warned that Hamas had “not yet received any new proposals” aimed at ending the conflict.
The Israeli government did not comment on the state of negotiations, offering only a general statement that it was continuing to pursue the release of hostages “on the battlefield and via negotiations.”
Since late May, the talks have been largely frozen. That was when Hamas reportedly rejected a U.S.-backed plan submitted by White House envoy Steve Witkoff, a response that Washington deemed “unacceptable.”
That plan had included a 60-day pause in fighting, a partial pullback of Israeli troops, and expanded humanitarian access, all in return for the release of 10 live hostages and 18 bodies of deceased hostages.
Hamas’s reply reportedly sought to restrict Israel’s ability to resume military action if no permanent truce was finalized by the end of the 60-day period.
In addition, Hamas opposed the U.S. proposal to release the 10 living captives in two waves—one on the first day of the truce and the second on the seventh—preferring instead to stagger the releases throughout the ceasefire window.
An earlier deal to exchange hostages for a ceasefire collapsed on March 2 after its initial 42-day phase concluded. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu had refused to negotiate the second stage, which would have entailed a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza—something his far-right coalition partners adamantly oppose.
Israel resumed military operations in Gaza on March 18, and Netanyahu has since pledged to continue the campaign until Hamas is destroyed.
Although Netanyahu claimed just days before the June 13 Israeli strike on Iran that hostage talks were making “significant progress,” an Arab source familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel that no such progress had actually been made.
As it stands, Gaza-based terror groups are holding 50 hostages, 49 of whom were seized on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered around 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 more, igniting the current war. Hamas also possesses the body of an Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza conflict.
According to the IDF, 28 of the hostages still in captivity have been confirmed dead. Twenty are believed to be alive, while Israeli officials have expressed deep concern for the condition of two others.
{Matzav.com Israel}