Qatar PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani meets Hamas, PIJ chiefs in Doha

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani met in Doha on Tuesday with the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, and the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, Ziyad Al-Nakhalah.

The meeting discussed the response of Hamas and the Palestinian factions to the proposed Gaza ceasefire and captives exchange deal with Israel, the developments in the Gaza Strip, and the occupied West Bank, in addition to the ongoing mediation efforts to end the war on the enclave, according to Qatari state news agency QNA.

The Palestinian officials said they were ready to deal "positively" with efforts to reach an agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip.

The meeting comes following unconfirmed reports earlier last month suggesting that Washington had pushed Doha to expel Hamas from the country if the group rejects Israel's Gaza deal.

Doha's hosting of the Palestinian group, which came at a US request in 2011, has enabled Qatar to be a key mediator in the ceasefire talks pushing for an end to the war on Gaza. The Gulf state has also played a mediator role with the PIJ, whose headquarters are in Damascus.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, Hamas said the Palestinian leaders had delivered the response in a meeting with the Qatari prime minister, and that they had also sent the response to the Egyptian mediators.

The statement said the response emphasised "a complete stop of the ongoing aggression against Gaza" and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

On 31 May, US President Joe Biden presented the latest proposal, entailing a three-phased deal that would pave the way for a complete ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, Egypt and Qatar said that their joint mediation efforts with the US would continue until a deal on Gaza was reached.

The statement added that the mediators would study the response and coordinate with the relevant parties regarding the next steps.