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Middle East conflict

Trump’s envoy Witkoff to travel to Doha on March 11 — media

According to the Washington Post, these will be the US delegation’s first contacts of the Gaza ceasefire since Donald Trump took the presidential office

WASHINGTON, March 9. /TASS/. US Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff will travel to the Qatari capital city on March 11 to discuss Gaza ceasefire issues, the Washington Post reported, citing its sources.

According to the newspaper, these will be the US delegation’s first contacts of the Gaza ceasefire since Donald Trump took the presidential office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that on March 10 Israel will send a delegation to Qatar in a bid to invigorate talks on the Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Palestinian radicals.

In mid-January, Israel and Hamas reached an Egypt-, Qatar-, and US-brokered three-stage agreement to release the hostages held in Gaza and declare a ceasefire in the enclave. The three-phase deal took effect on January 19. The initial 42-day phase of the ceasefire ended on March 1. All the living Israeli hostages and the bodies of those deceased that were supposed to be handed over in the first stage were returned to Israel. In exchange, Israel released over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners.

On March 2, Israel suspended humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and closed all checkpoints, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept US Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff’s plan to continue Gaza ceasefire talks.

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United States Palestine Qatar Donald Trump

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