The Israel-Hamas negotiations to extend the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were in limbo Thursday as the Trump administration turned its attention to talks with Russian officials in Moscow over the Ukraine war.

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, was expected to leave the latest round of Gaza talks in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar for Russia on Thursday. Trump has effectively charged Witkoff with working to resolve two of the world’s most fraught conflicts — the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

The latest round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas in the Qatari capital of Doha this week have borne little fruit amid entrenched disagreements over the deal’s next steps, according to an Israeli official familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

In mid-January, the two sides agreed to a multiphase truce that would ultimately end Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza and free the Israeli and foreign hostages.

— The New York Times