Israel has approved a Qatari and US-brokered deal with Hamas that will see the release of 50 Israeli hostages in Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners and a four-day ceasefire. The agreement will also allow humanitarian aid into Gaza following weeks of bombardment and heavy fighting that killed thousands and displaced 2.3 million people. In this interview on Radio 702, SAIIA’s Senior Researcher Gustavo De Carvalho describes Qatar’s role in the mediation process as important and in line with its foreign policy objective of positioning itself as a player in global affairs.
