WASHINGTON — The prime minister of Qatar will visit Washington next week as the Biden administration pursues a breakthrough deal to end the war between Israel and Hamas, sources familiar with the visit told Al-Monitor.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, is expected to meet with senior members of the administration and top lawmakers.
The Gulf state of Qatar, which hosts Hamas’ political office in Doha, has been the primary mediator in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.
Israeli authorities say Hamas is holding more than 100 hostages in the Gaza Strip. The militants took some 240 people captive when they stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7. Around half, most of them women and children, were freed in a Qatar-mediated cease-fire deal in late November.
The Qatari premier will reportedly meet in Europe this weekend with CIA Director Bill Burns and Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea for discussions on a second potential hostage deal. Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will also participate in the meetings, according to the Washington Post, which first reported on Burns’ travel.
The Biden administration is seeking a pause in Israel’s more than three-month war against Hamas in exchange for the remaining hostages’ return. A State Department official said the administration hopes a pause-for-hostages agreement would pave the way for a broader diplomatic deal on Gaza’s eventual reconstruction and a pathway to a two-state solution.
US officials have proposed using a long-sought normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel as leverage with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a pathway for Palestinian statehood.
