Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abd al-Rahman al-Thani reported significant progress in negotiations on the return of hostages taken by Hamas militants on October 7. During a joint press conference with the head of the European Union’s foreign policy department, Josep Borrell, he stated, “The problems facing us now are insignificant compared to those that have already been resolved. In fact, we are talking about practical issues such as logistics.”
On November 19, the Washington Post reported that a preliminary exchange agreement had been reached between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar. According to Keren DeYoung, the author of the publication, as part of the agreement reached, dozens of women and children abducted by terrorists on October 7 should be released. The article says that we are talking about a six-page document providing for the release of 50 or more hostages. Based on the description of the agreement reached, it is not clear in what order Hamas agrees to release the abducted.