Qatari, US and Egyptian negotiators set up Cairo hub to shore up Gaza ceasefire
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Communication lines open 24 hours intended to avoid breakdown over reported violations and other issues. Qatari, US and Egyptian negotiators are running a communications hub in Cairo to protect the ceasefire in Gaza, as Donald Trump said he was not confident the break in fighting would hold.
Violations have already been reported. Medics in Gaza said on Monday that eight people had been hit by Israeli fire. The start of the ceasefire was also delayed when Hamas did not provide the names of hostages to be released. Trump claimed credit for the deal when his envoy helped to break months of deadlock to secure it before his inauguration. But asked after the event on Monday if he thought it would last, he appeared to distance himself from the conflict. “That’s not our war. It’s their war,” he told reporters.
A top Qatari diplomat said on Tuesday that negotiators were confident the US president would support the deal because his team had played a critical role in securing it. “If it wasn’t for [Trump] this deal wouldn’t be in place right now. So we are banking on the support of this administration,” said Majed al-Ansari, an adviser to the Qatari prime minister and foreign ministry spokesperson. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in touch on a daily basis, he said.
The first stage of the ceasefire is scheduled to last for six weeksNegotiations on the more challenging second phase are expected to start in early February. Trust on both sides is negligible, so the communications hub is intended to prevent the ceasefire breaking down under accusations of violations.
