Biden, Qatari emir discuss difficulties of Israel-Hamas deal

US President Joe Biden discussed with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani the difficulties in implementing agreements between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas.

The US President, the Emir of Qatar and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani spoke about “implementing the deal on hostages and a humanitarian pause” in the Gaza Strip, TASS reports, citing a statement released by the White House press service.

“The leaders discussed difficulties in implementing the deal and mechanisms for quickly eliminating these difficulties,” the statement said. The US President and the Emir of Qatar “agreed to maintain close contact to ensure full implementation of the agreement,” the White House press service added.

On November 22, the Palestinian Hamas movement announced that it had reached an agreement with Israel, through the mediation of Egypt and Qatar, on a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for four days. The agreements involve the release of 50 children, teenagers (under the age of 19) and women held in the enclave in exchange for the release of 150 teenagers (under the age of 19) and women from Israeli prisons. The truce came into force on November 24 at 08:00 Moscow time.

On November 24, Hamas released 13 Israelis, including four children. In exchange, Israel agreed to release 39 Palestinians (24 women and 15 teenagers) from prison at a rate of three Palestinians for every Israeli. In addition, the Palestinian movement, through the mediation of the Qatari authorities, released 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino citizen who were not covered by the terms of the deal.