Qatar says it is engaging with Trump team on Gaza ceasefire

DOHA (Reuters) -Qatar is engaging with the incoming Trump administration on Gaza after sensing fresh momentum for ceasefire talks following the U.S. election, Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday.

The war in Gaza has been raging for over 14 months, with much of the tiny enclave laid to waste and more than 44,000 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza health authorities, as Israeli forces continue their drive to wipe out Hamas and recapture hostages taken by the militant group.

Donald Trump's Middle East envoy has traveled to Qatar and Israel to kick-start the U.S. president-elect's diplomatic push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal before his inauguration on Jan. 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters on Thursday.

"We have seen a lot of encouragement from the incoming administration in order to achieve a deal even before the President comes to office and that's actually made us (try) to move things back and (try) to put it back on track, and we've been engaging in the past couple of weeks," Al Thani said at a conference in Doha.

Steve Witkoff, who will officially take up the envoy position in Trump's administration, met separately in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Al Thani, the source said.

Trump returned to the world stage on Saturday to join leaders for the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, although it was unclear whether he would meet other leaders apart from French President Emmanuel Macron.

(Reporting by Samia Nakhoul and Andrew Mills. Writing by Menna Alaa El Din and Nadine Awadalla. Editing by Toby Chopra and Mark Potter)

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