• Trump on Sunday said he hoped talks for a ceasefire deal would be “straightened out” this week
• US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators have been working to secure an agreement

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Wednesday, the White House said, as Trump presses for progress on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since July 6, discussing a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza, and discussions on ending the conflict.

Trump will host the Qatari leader for dinner at the White House on Wednesday evening, the White House said in a daily schedule for the president. Trump on Sunday said he hoped talks for a ceasefire deal would be “straightened out” this week.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had said on Sunday he was “hopeful” about the ceasefire negotiations under way in Qatar, a key mediator between the two sides.

US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators have been working to secure an agreement; however, Israel and Hamas are divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel. Israel says Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed over 58,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population, and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.

A previous two-month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18. Trump this year proposed a US takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the UN, and Palestinians as a proposal of “ethnic cleansing.”

Trump and Sheikh Mohammed are also expected to discuss efforts to resume talks between the US and Iran to reach a new nuclear agreement.

REUTERS