How Do Israel and Hamas Negotiate in Qatar?

While the Trump administration projects optimism about the possibility of a cease-fire in Gaza, officials from Israel and Hamas have been wrangling over the terms of an agreement at talks in Qatar over the past three days.

Though there was no sign yet of an imminent breakthrough, the sustained presence of negotiators from Hamas and Israel in Doha, the Qatari capital, suggested that both sides were serious about reaching a deal.

Hamas and Israel do not negotiate directly. Officials from both sides are sitting in separate buildings with mediators shuttling messages and ideas between them, according to a diplomat with knowledge of the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. The goal is to close the remaining gaps.

“I think it’s too early to provide impressions about these negotiations,” Majed al-Ansari, the spokesman of the Qatari foreign ministry, told reporters at a news conference. “The parties are engaged,” he added.

The current negotiations are focused on achieving an agreement for an initial 60-day cease-fire and the release of hostages. Under the proposal being discussed, Israel and Hamas would engage in more talks about the end of the war, starting on the first day of the cease-fire.

Israel is represented by officials from the military; Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence service; Mossad, the foreign intelligence service; Gal Hirsch, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coordinator for hostages; and Ophir Falk, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Netanyahu, according to two Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the makeup of Israel’s negotiating team.

The chief Hamas negotiator is Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas official based in Qatar. He served as a deputy to Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who helped plot the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Hamas documents recovered by the Israeli military in Gaza show that Mr. al-Hayya also took part in planning the assault.

Mr. al-Hayya works closely with a number of Hamas leaders in Qatar and exchanges messages with members of the group in Gaza, including Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the commander of Hamas’s military wing.