Hostage talks kick off in Doha, but PM’s insistence on not ending war curbs optimism

Hostage negotiations kicked off in Doha on Wednesday with renewed energy and optimism from US mediators following Hamas’s release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, but an Israeli and an Arab official told The Times of Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to accept proposals that commit Jerusalem to permanently ending the war in Gaza significantly limit chances for success.

Still, US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff is leaning hard on both Israel and Hamas to compromise and will stick with it through at least the Friday conclusion of US President Donald Trump’s Mideast trip, the Israeli official said, adding that the negotiations may be allowed extend further if they remain substantive, but need a little more time.

For its part, Israel has pledged to launch a new massive military operation to reoccupy and hold onto the entire Strip indefinitely if Hamas does not agree to what it has called the “Witkoff proposal” by the end of Trump’s trip. This proposal envisions the release of as many as half of the remaining living hostages in exchange for a weekslong ceasefire during which Israel would agree to hold talks regarding the terms of an end to the war, without committing up front to such a result.

Hamas has pushed back on this framework, insisting on guarantees that the war will end before it releases additional hostages. It has pointed to Israel’s refusal to hold talks on a permanent ceasefire earlier this year, even though it had agreed to do so as part of the ceasefire inked in January, which collapsed after its first stage in March.

The terror group has proposed releasing all of the hostages at once in exchange for an end to the war, but Netanyahu has rejected this trade, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power. Successive polls have indicated, though, that the premier is out of step with the majority of Israelis who back such a framework. But Netanyahu is also facing pressure from his far-right coalition partners who have threatened to collapse the government if he were to end the war in exchange for the remaining 58 hostages — between 20 and 23 of whom are believed to still be alive.

While Netanyahu has stuck to the “Witkoff proposal” from earlier this year, the Israeli official said the US envoy has moved away from this proposal and is instead pushing frameworks that more definitively include a permanent end to the war, while removing Hamas from power in Gaza.

Witkoff held a phone call with Netanyahu for over two hours on Wednesday during which the US envoy sought to push Netanyahu toward his new framework, but did not make significant progress, the Israeli official said.

The Arab official said Hamas has indicated willingness to show flexibility on the issue of disarmament if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza. The terror group has already said it was prepared to transfer governing power to an independent committee of Palestinian technocrats.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators have also been pushing Hamas to accept an initial ceasefire of several months — longer than the 45-day ceasefire that Netanyahu has said it is prepared to accept — that includes assurances from the mediators that they will ensure Israel remains at the negotiating table during that time to hash out the terms of a permanent end to the war and doesn’t resume fighting in the meantime, the Arab official said.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari appeared to confirm this effort, telling the local Al Araby Al Jadeed newspaper that the mediators’ current goal is to reach an initial ceasefire that is longer than the truce from earlier this year, which lasted six weeks, and provides an opportunity for the parties to reach additional agreements.

“There are still challenges, but President Trump’s visit has given momentum to the negotiations,” al-Ansari said.

Al-Ansari said that the new talks in Doha revolve around a US-backed proposal for an extended truce, the release of the remaining hostages and talks about the future of the Gaza Strip.

Among the various meetings held in Qatar on Wednesday was a sit-down between Witkoff and senior Qatari negotiators, in the presence of several hostage families. The meeting was said by Al Jazeera to have lasted for some two-and-a-half hours.

Witkoff was in the Gulf state along with Trump, who made Qatar the second stop on a three-country tour that started in Saudi Arabia on Monday and will end in the United Arab Emirates on Friday.

Meanwhile, an American source denied an Arabic media report that Witkoff had met directly with senior Hamas officials.

While no major breakthroughs were made by late Wednesday night, the Israeli and Arab officials said they expect US pressure to intensify over the next 48 hours.

An Israeli negotiating team made up of the former Shin Bet deputy chief, Netanyahu’s diplomatic adviser Ophir Falk and the government’s hostage point-man Gal Hirsch remains in Doha for continued discussions, though, the Israeli official said their mandate is very limited. Witkoff understood this when he chose to pick up the phone and speak directly with Netanyahu on Wednesday, the official added.

During a meeting Witkoff held with hostage families on Tuesday in Tel Aviv, one of the participants was recorded asking the US envoy why the US wasn’t pressuring Netanyahu to end the war. Witkoff could be heard responding that Israel is a sovereign country and that Washington wouldn’t force Jerusalem to make such a decision.

Channel 12 quoted a senior Israeli official familiar with the hostage talks as having said that “the Americans have an attitude of ‘take it or leave it,’ or we’re gone. They are determined that whoever doesn’t go with them will lose a lot.”

Israel is also hoping that it will soon know the results of its Tuesday strike targeting Hamas’s Gaza leader Muhammad Sinwar, who it has viewed as an obstacle to the kinds of deals it has hoped to reach, the Israeli official said, expressing hope that his elimination would swing the power balance toward Hamas’s leadership abroad.

If Sinwar’s death is confirmed, the mediators are hoping that Israel will agree to put off its military operation in order to give time for Hamas to regroup and determine its decision-making framework, the Arab official said.

Nurit Yohanan contributed to this report.

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