Qatar PM: 13 months of wasted negotiations, this deal was the same framework as agreed in Dec. 2023

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Sky News on Friday that the recently approved deal followed the same framework as the one agreed upon in December 2023.

Thani said the framework had been first discussed in December 2023, only two months into the war.

The ceasefire deal is “the last chance for Gaza”, Qatar’s PM has said ⬇️In an exclusive interview with @SkyYaldaHakim, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani warned that “peace won’t happen” if there is not a Palestinian state https://t.co/qI6OvYgo6e pic.twitter.com/mLqZ7POhus

— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 17, 2025

This current deal was “basically 13 months of a waste of negotiating the details that have no meaning and are not worth a single life that we lost in Gaza or a single life of the hostages lost because of the bombing.”

He called the deal the “last chance to save Gaza” and emphasized that “peace won’t happen” if there is not a Palestinian state.

“We are aiming for a Palestinian state and an Israeli state living side-by-side, peacefully,” he told Sky News.

Donald Trump seeks to delay the ban (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Trump’s pivotal role

Thani praised incoming President-elect Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff, the incoming special envoy to the Middle East, for helping achieve the deal.

“We believe President Trump can create a greater impact for the region. Steve Witkoff demonstrated leadership in these negotiations. We see the way he fought for a deal to happen.”

Thani said that if this approach is maintained, they can “create a lot of good things for the region” in the next four years.

His comments echo similar comments from former Hamas minister Basem Naim, who told Al Arabiya on Friday that “The Gaza ceasefire agreement would not have happened without Donald Trump.”

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Both former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert pointed to Trump as having put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get a deal. Bannon told Politico that “it [Trump’s threat] wasn’t a warning to Hamas. It was a warning to Netanyahu. To Bibi.”

Trump has aggressively pushed for a deal to be achieved before he enters office on January 20: “All hell will break out. If those hostages aren’t back, I don’t want to hurt your negotiation; if they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East,” he told reporters.

“Frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office,” Trump said following the announcement of the deal, warning both sides of collapsing the deal.