Qatar will work with the incoming Trump administration on Gaza, sensing renewed momentum for ceasefire talks after the U.S. election, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday, Reuters reported.
“We saw a lot of support from the incoming administration to reach a deal before the president took office, and that made us (try) to get things moving and get things back on track, and we’ve been involved in that in the last couple of weeks,” Al Thani said at a conference in Doha.
Steve Witkoff, who will officially take over as envoy in the Trump administration, met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Al Thani in late November, the agency reported, citing a source.
Witkoff has traveled to Qatar and Israel to begin diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release for the U.S. president-elect before his inauguration on January 20, a source familiar with the talks told Reuters on Thursday.
The war in Gaza has now lasted more than 14 months, with much of the enclave destroyed and more than 44,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials, as Israeli forces continue to bomb the territory.