Axios: US to arrange secret Israel-Qatar talks aimed at normalising ties

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to host a secret meeting in New York between representatives of Israel and Qatar aimed at normalising relations between the two countries.

The Israeli delegation will be led by Mossad spy chief David Barnea, while Qatar will be represented by a senior official, two sources familiar with the details told Axios.

This marks the most senior meeting between the two countries since the agreement to halt the war in Gaza, where Qatar played a central mediating role.

It comes as the Trump administration prepares to declare that the Gaza peace process is entering a new phase.

According to the outlet, the New York meeting will likely focus on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the disarmament of Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said that under this framework, he intends to raise concerns about Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the hostile tone toward Israel in Al Jazeera broadcasts funded by Qatar, and Qatar’s alleged backing of anti-Israel sentiment on US college campuses.

On September 9, Israeli jets carried out an unprecedented strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha. The group’s senior figures survived, but a Qatari security guard was killed.

Qatar then pulled back from its role as mediator between Israel and Hamas, while Arab states jointly condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and pressed the Trump administration to compel Israel to stop the war.

Later that month, at Trump’s urging, Netanyahu phoned Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani from the White House to apologise for the strike.

Although Qatar resumed its mediation efforts, relations between Israel and Qatar, two key US partners in the Middle East, remained tense.

By Jeyhun Aghazada