U.S. President Joe Biden said on February 26 that he hopes to have a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza start by March 4 as the warring parties appeared to close in on a deal during negotiations in Qatar that also aim to broker the release of hostages.
The presence of both sides for so-called proximity talks—meeting mediators separately but in the same city—suggested negotiations were further along than at any time since a big push at the start of February, when Israel rejected a Hamas counter-offer for a four-and-a-half-month truce.
A source told Reuters earlier that an Israeli working delegation had flown to Qatar to create an operational center to support negotiations. Its mission would include vetting proposed Palestinian militants that Hamas wants freed in a hostage release deal, the source said.
Israel continues to maintain in public that it will not end the war until Hamas is eradicated, while Hamas says it will not free hostages without an agreement to end the war.
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