Al Jazeera: Qatar Mediated Ceasefire Talks "Advancing Rapidly"

Markets moving on a headline from Al Jazeera stating that, "Negotiations between Hamas and Israel mediated by Qatar are advancing rapidly to agree on a ceasefire and finalize a prisoner exchange deal." At time of publishing the Al Jazeera headline has not been corroborated by a second source.

• Qatar is one of the few US allies to maintain a direct line of communication with Hamas, Iran, and Iran-backed groups in the region. They are considered central to hostage exchange efforts and will likely be instrumental in future negotiations to resolve the conflict.
• In the past few days, US officials have moderated their language slightly on the war between Israel and Hamas. Whilst still endorsing Israel's right to defend itself, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and WH NSC John Kirby, have called on Israel to approve a "humanitarian pause" to allow the delivery of aid.
• EU leaders yesterday agreed on similar language, calling for “humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs,” to allow aid into Gaza.
• A humanitarian pause is considered unlikely to lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities, with pauses providing windows of as little as a few hours to deliver aid and evacuate civilians.
• Samir Puri at King’s College London told Al Jazeera in an article published a few hours ago, "he thinks a ceasefire is “unimaginable” in the present circumstances, given that “a binding agreement with signatories and associated de-escalatory obligations” would be required.” They take real effort to negotiate in the first place."