Ceasefire talks to kick off with arrival of Steve Witkoff
The Gaza ceasefire talks are expected to start at some point today and carry on into the week.
The US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is due to arrive by all accounts later today and once he does, we expect these talks to carry forward.
At the moment, we are stuck in a bit of a feedback loop of the same questions, the same challenges and the same issues. But what is going to be key once Witkoff arrives is likely to be US priorities.
This round of talks is being fronted by the current president of the US, Donald Trump’s White House, and he will, no doubt, be pushing Donald Trump’s demands.
And to sort of understand what his priorities might be we can just look at what happened four weeks ago, when US teacher Marc Fogel, who was imprisoned in Russia for three years, was released and had gushing praise for Trump after being freed.
That is what is most likely motivating Trump – to secure some kind of release of Israeli Americans to be able to push this idea that he is the president that gets captives released, that gets Americans around the world freed.
Israeli delegation arrives in Doha for ceasefire negotiations: Report
Israel’s public broadcaster Channel 12 reports that an Israeli team has arrived in the Qatari capital to continue talks with mediators over the fate of the Gaza ceasefire, which has been in limbo since its first phase expired at the beginning of this month.
This follows comments from a senior Hamas official saying that talks in Doha had restarted.
Channel 12’s report says that mediators will attempt to extract a concession from Hamas in the form of a release of Israeli captives in exchange for a temporary extension of the ceasefire, which aims to buy talks more time.
Hamas has repeatedly stated that it is not interested in such a proposal, however.
Israel says troops will remain in Syria
Israel’s defence minister says that the country’s troops are ready to stay in Syria for an “unlimited period”.
After the fall of the regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad late last year, Israeli troops quickly moved into Syrian territory, occupying, among other areas, the peak of Mount Hermon, which sits on the border between the two countries.
“We will stay on Mount Hermon and ensure that the security zone in southern Syria is demilitarised”, Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a video message posted on X.
“Every morning [interim Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa] in Damascus will see that the Israeli army is watching him from the peaks of Mount Hermon.”
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