After over a year and a half of conflict, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire, mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. The deal, brokered in Doha, involves the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel in exchange for hostages. Key figures in the negotiations included David Barnea, head of Israel's Mossad, Ronen Bar, head of Israel's Shin Bet, and Brett McGurk, President Biden's top Middle East advisor. The role of Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and Egypt's intelligence chief Rashad was also crucial in facilitating communication between the warring parties.
A ceasefire agreement has been reached in Gaza after more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas . The United States, Egypt , and Qatar have mediated the long-running efforts to halt the fighting in the ravaged Palestinian territory. The latest round of talks proved successful this week, with all sides bringing their top negotiators to the Qatar i capital, Doha.
Israel's negotiation team was headed by the head of Israel's spy agency, David Barnea, who worked alongside the head of Israel's Shin Bet security agency and top political and military advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Barnea, meeting with the Biden administration, was the highest-profile member of the Israeli negotiating team. Ronen Bar, the head of Israel's Shin Bet security agency, has also been involved in negotiations for months. Bar's agency handles matters relating to Palestinian security prisoners, some of whom, under the agreed-upon deal, are set to be released by Israel in exchange for hostages. He took responsibility for failing to thwart the militants after the devastating Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. President Joe Biden's top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, has been putting together a draft of the deal from the discussions with the two sides as the lead negotiator in the Israel-Hamas negotiations. McGurk has been a fixture in U.S. Mideast policy for more than two decades in the National Security Council and White House under both Democratic and Republican administrations. He has frequently shuttled to the Middle East for talks with senior officials about the conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Witkoff, has met separately in recent weeks with Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, another key mediator. Witkoff has kept in contact with Biden's foreign policy team as the incoming Trump and outgoing Biden administrations coordinated on the deal. Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, led his country's pivotal mediation efforts. He has been a key communicator with Hamas throughout the process, as Israel and Hamas have not communicated directly. The most consequential phase of negotiations — those that have occurred over the last few weeks — took place in Doha, his country's capital. The director of Egypt's General Intelligence Agency was also a liaison with Hamas throughout the talks. Rashad took office in October 2024, replacing former chief intelligence official Abbas Kamel, who led the negotiations during the first ceasefire in November 2023. Several rounds of negotiations have occurred in Cairo, and the mediators will move to the Egyptian capital Thursday for further talks on implementing the deal. The acting head of Hamas' political bureau and the militant group's chief negotiator is based in Qatar but does not meet directly with Israeli or American officials, communicating instead through Egyptian and Qatari mediators. His role increased in importance after Israeli soldiers killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, was believed to be dictating the Hamas stance in negotiations up until his death. But even before Sinwar's death, al-Hayya was managing affairs for the militant group. Al-Hayya, seen as less of a hardliner than Sinwar, had served as Sinwar's deputy and had managed ceasefire negotiations in 2014 as well. He is a longtime official with the group and survived an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in Gaza in 2007, killing several of his family members.
GAZA HAMAS ISRAEL CEASEFIRE NEGOTIATIONS MIDDLE EAST UNITED STATES EGYPT QATAR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CONFLICT RESOLUTION
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