The top American envoy to the Middle East was to meet on Wednesday with Israel’s prime minister and, potentially, visit the Gaza Strip to reinforce a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that, if made permanent, would allow thousands more displaced Palestinians to return to their homes. The envoy, Steven Witkoff, was expected to inspect…
At his seaside office complex in Doha on Wednesday evening, the Qatari prime minister thought he had a deal. Hamas’s negotiators, led by a burly former lawmaker, had left the prime minister’s office, having given up on an 11th-hour demand that was the last major obstacle to a cease-fire in Gaza after 466 days of…
For President-elect Donald J. Trump, the Israeli-Gaza cease-fire deal was key for two reasons. It removed one of the most vexing international conflicts that hovered over the start of his second term, and it gave Mr. Trump, who was known during his real-estate developer days in New York City as a “deals guy,” something to…
Israeli security and policy chiefs were expected to arrive in Qatar on Sunday for high-level talks about a proposed cease-fire deal in Gaza that would see hostages released in the final days of President Biden’s term and before Donald J. Trump takes office. Biden administration officials have been pressing for a deal that would become…