Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani is reportedly not in Italy to attend a meeting with White House envoy Steve Witkoff on negotiations for the Gaza agreement.
Middle Eastern sources familiar with the matter reported this, emphasizing that no official meetings on the issue are currently scheduled, despite ongoing contact between the parties on the matter.
Rumors in the last few hours indicated Sardinia as the chosen location (specifically a mega yacht in Costa Smeralda ) for a summit with US envoy Witkoff and Israeli minister Dermer.
Regarding the negotiations, according to Axios journalist Barak Ravid , Hamas has presented its demands to Tel Aviv, demanding the release of 200 Palestinians sentenced to life in prison for killing Israelis and 2,000 other Palestinians arrested in Gaza after October 7, in exchange for the release of 10 live hostages as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Following Hamas's response to the latest proposal for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly recalled the negotiating team from Qatar to "continue consultations in Israel."
Meanwhile , US special envoy Steve Witkoff speaks of the failure of the Gaza talks in Doha as being linked to Hamas's "selfish" position . "We have decided to withdraw our team" from Qatar following "Hamas's latest response, which clearly demonstrates a lack of will to reach a ceasefire" in the Strip. Donald Trump's envoy also stated that the United States "will consider alternative options" for bringing the Israeli hostages home.
(Unioneonline)