Qatar's Emir Visits Egypt to Discuss Ending Bombardment of Gaza

The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo today, Friday, amid hopes of mediating a ceasefire in the violence in the Gaza Strip and providing aid as well as the release of Israeli hostages. A statement from Sisi's office indicated that the meeting between the leaders would address ways to de-escalate the situation in Gaza and offer humanitarian relief to the besieged population of 2.3 million residents. The Qatari news agency reported that the leaders discussed several issues, "most notably the developments in the Palestinian territories and the joint efforts to stop the aggression on Gaza, de-escalate tensions, and introduce urgent humanitarian assistance." The Emir's visit to Egypt comes a day after the Qatari Prime Minister met with the Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the head of the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) in Doha to discuss the outlines of an agreement for the release of hostages and a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.