Israeli ceasefire negotiators to head to Qatar

JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

An Israeli negotiating team will travel to the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday to discuss a potential ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with the Palestinian group Hamas.

The delegation is expected to remain in Doha through at least Thursday, during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he directed the delegation to travel to Qatar.

“Negotiations will only take place under fire,” it added.

The office said the decision to dispatch the delegation followed a meeting with Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, which included a phone call with Trump.

“The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for assistance in releasing IDF (Israeli Army) soldier Edan Alexander,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

According to the statement, Trump reaffirmed “his commitment to Israel and his desire to continue close cooperation with Netanyahu.”

Earlier in the day, Hamas announced that it had released Edan Alexander, a dual Israeli American citizen, following communications with Washington as part of ongoing efforts to secure a cease-fire in Gaza.

Israel’s Channel 12 quoted Alexander’s family as saying that he may travel to Qatar to meet President Trump, pending his medical condition.

Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13-16 in his first trip to the region since beginning his second term in January.

Alexander’s release reportedly came as part of negotiations between Hamas and the US with mediation from Egypt and Qatar. Israel did not take part in the talks.

Israel estimates that 58 Israeli captives remain in Gaza, including 21 who are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 9,900 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, where they face torture, starvation and medical neglect—conditions that have led to multiple deaths, according to reports by Palestinian and Israeli media and human rights organizations.

Nearly 52,900 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.