US, Qatar, Israel discuss truce deal implementation

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Workers carry out restoration work at the historical Al-Basha Palace, damaged during the conflict, in Gaza City on November 13, 2025. — Reuters
Workers carry out restoration work at the historical Al-Basha Palace, damaged during the conflict, in Gaza City on November 13, 2025. — Reuters

• Netanyahu to meet Trump on 29th
• Police raid UNRWA’s office in East Jerusalem and raise Israel’s flag
• Forces kill two Palestinians in occupied West Bank

WASHINGTON: The United States, Israel, and Qatar held a trilateral meeting in New York on Sunday, a White House official said, months after Israeli jets conducted an air strike in Doha, unsuccessfully targeting Hamas leadership.

Sources told news outlet Axios that the focus of Sunday’s meeting was largely “on implementation of the Gaza peace agreement”.

According to Axios, it was “the highest level meeting between the countries since the deal to end the war in Gaza, for which Qatar served as a key mediator”.

The outlet also reported White House envoy Steve Witkoff hosted the meeting, with Mossad spy chief David Barnea representing Israel and an unnamed Qatari official in attendance.

On Saturday, Qatar and Egypt called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force to fully implement the fragile agreement to end the conflict in Gaza.

Speaking at a diplomatic conference in Doha, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said “a ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is full withdrawal of the Israeli forces (and) there is stability back in Gaza”.

The Israeli strike on Doha on Sept 9 unsuccessfully targeted top Hamas negotiator Khalil Al Hayra and other leaders in the Palestinian group.

The strike instead killed six people and sparked a wave of criticism, including a rebuke from US President Donald Trump.

Axios said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later called Al Thani from the White House “at Trump’s urging, to apologise for the strike”.

Netanyahu to meet Trump on 29th

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump on Dec 29 to discuss the next steps of the Gaza ceasefire, an Israeli spokesperson said on Monday.

Netanyahu had said last week that he would be discussing with Trump the second phase of a US plan to end the conflict in Gaza later this month.

“The (Israeli) prime minister will meet President Trump on Dec 29. They will discuss the future steps and phases and the international stabilisation force of the ceasefire plan,” spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said in an online briefing to reporters.

Raid on UN compound

Israeli police raided the headquarters of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency in East Jerusalem on Monday and raised Israel’s flag, in what the agency called a challenge to international law.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has been accused of bias by Israel, has not used the building since the start of this year after Israel ordered it to vacate all its premises and cease its operations.

“This latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations member state to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.

“To allow this represents a new challenge to international law, one that creates a dangerous precedent anywhere else the UN is present across the world.”

Lazzarini said police brought in motorcycles, trucks and forklifts, and cut communications.

A spokesperson for Israeli police said security personnel had accompanied municipality employees during a “debt collection exercise”.

A UNRWA spokesperson said the East Jerusalem compound remained UN premises despite the Israeli ban on its operations and that the agency had “no debts to the municipality”.

George Khoury, who owns a security company contracted by UNRWA to secure the headquarters, said municipality workers and police arrived early on Monday, forced their way into the compound and detained several security guards.

Several hours later, an Israeli flag was raised over one of the buildings.

Two Palestinians killed

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday after accusing them of throwing stones.

The Israeli military alleged that during an operation earlier in the day, three individuals threw stones towards cars on a road near the town of Azzun.

On Monday, the Palestinian health ministry announced the death of 21-year-old Bara Qablan, “who succumbed to the wounds he sustained yesterday after being shot” by the Israeli army in Qalqilya governorate, where Azzun is located.

The Ramallah-based ministry did not confirm the death of the other individual.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed 1,022 Palestinians in occupied West Bank over the last two years.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2025

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