Qatari and Egyptian officials are meeting with Hamas negotiators on Wednesday in an effort to push the militant group towards a cease-fire and hostage deal, three sources with knowledge of the meeting told Axios.
According to the sources, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the director of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, are meeting with Hamas representatives in Doha to try to get the terror group to withdraw its new demands regarding the release of Palestinians who are serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.
U.S. officials told the outlet that over the past two weeks, the White House has become very doubtful about reaching a deal due to Hamas' new demands, while an Israeli official said the negotiations are at a stalemate with little hope of a breakthrough at the midweek meeting.
While the United States, Egypt and Qatar continue to work out a proposal to present to Israel and Hamas, President Joe Biden's top aides have reportedly been weighing whether there is any point to pitching a new deal given the harder line both sides have taken in recent talks.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday that the U.S., Qatar and Egypt are still trying to come up with a proposal that both Israel and Hamas can agree on.
"What is not clear to us is whether we will be able to get there and whether Hamas will be able to come to the table in sincerity and sign on to something," Kirby said, according to Axios.
On Tuesday, Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera that the militant group has not issued any new demands and said the United States should focus its diplomatic efforts on pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to drop his new demands.
Netanyahu's new demands reportedly include the deployment of Israel Defense Forces personnel along Gaza's border with Egypt.
The U.S. officials claim they could convince Netanyahu to lessen his new demands if Hamas pulls back on its new conditions, Axios reported.
In recent days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA Director Bill Burns said a new proposal could be on the not-too-distant horizon, but other officials have reportedly said a deal is not forthcoming.
The U.S. officials said that Biden advisers spoke with senior Qatari and Egyptian officials several times this week and told them the White House considers the number of prisoners Hamas wants released from Israeli jails to be the main obstacle to negotiations right now.
Both Israeli and U.S. officials say Hamas is demanding the release of an additional 100 prisoners, on top of the already agreed upon 150. They added that the United States asked Egypt and Qatar to step up the pressure on Hamas in an effort to get the group to lessen its demands.
Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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