Biden adviser meets with Qatari leaders to discuss Israel-Hamas negotiations

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser on Tuesday held talks in Doha with senior Qatari leaders on the efforts to complete a cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas as well as Qatar’s prime minister meeting this week with Iran’s president, according to a U.S. official.

White House senior adviser Brett McGurk’s talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani come after the prime minister’s Monday visit to Tehran to meet with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The talks also come as cease-fire talks aimed at winning at least a pause in the war between Israel and Hamas are shifting to Doha this week after several days of intense negotiations in Cairo. A round of high-level talks ended Sunday without a final agreement. But talks continued at lower levels Monday in an effort to bridge remaining gaps.

Those working-group level talks are now expected to resume Wednesday in Doha. It was not clear why the location of the talks shifted from Cairo or whether this will have an impact on negotiations.

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