WaPo-Qatar Warns Iran Against Israel Strike During Gaza Talks

John Hudson at WaPo: "Qatar’s prime minister cautioned Iran's leaders to hold off on their expected assault of Israel to avoid scuttling the real progress in the negotiations in Doha. That was relayed in a phone call to Tehran following the first day of talks, per diplomats familiar."

• After the first day of talks between Israel, the US, Eqypt and Qatar aimed at reaching a ceasefire deal in Gaza, White House National Security Comms spox John Kirby said that the discussions had made a 'promising start', but that 'there remains a lot of work to do'. The discussions resume today. As has been the case to date, Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly, but via the Middle Eastern mediators.
• Comes after WaPo reported on 15 Aug that Hezbollah would also heed Qatar's warning. “We can say that Hezbollah will not launch its retaliation operation during the Qatar talks because the party does not want to be held accountable for obstructing the talks or a potential deal,” said an individual with close ties to Hezbollah, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. “The retaliation can wait; it is not urgent or has a time limit.”
• With Iran and Hezbollah seemingly holding off on any attack, the very short-term outlook appears to have improved. But, as Kirby noted in a call on 15 Aug, "I can't sit here and tell you for sure that there's been a decision [by Iran and Hezbollah] to change their mind,”