Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. AFP
Turkish Intelligence Chief Ibrahim Kalin and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Hamas officials in Doha late Tuesday, a day before top-level talks between Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
All meetings were behind closed doors, with both sides cautious to avoid jeopardising what diplomats say is a highly sensitive phase in the ceasefire.
Asked whether the talks addressed Hamas's political future or the proposed Gaza task force, a Turkish official said no concrete decisions had been made.
"These issues will depend on how Israel and the United States position themselves during the process," the official told AFP.
Turkey's foreign ministry released a picture of Kalin and Fidan meeting the Hamas delegation led by Mohammed Darwish, who affirmed in a statement the movement's commitment "to a complete ceasefire despite repeated enemy violations".
"Efforts by Turkey and Qatar will be crucial to maintaining the ceasefire and shaping Gaza's future," Palestinian analyst Ahmad al-Heela told AFP, citing their ties to both the US and Hamas.
"However, Qatar and Turkey face the challenge of persuading the US administration that Palestinians must have a voice in Gaza's future -- a step toward a two-state solution," he added.
During their talks, Erdogan told Qatar's emir the Gaza ceasefire "has provided relief to Palestinians" but said the two-state solution was the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue, his office said.
Meanwhile, Hassan Rashad, head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, traveled to Israel on Tuesday to meet Israeli officials and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to discuss solidifying the Gaza ceasefire.
Turkish team at Egypt border
Turkey has taken an active role in talks to secure a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and voiced strong support for US President Donald Trump's peace plan, in what one expert said would balance Washington's pro-Israel stance.
"Turkey's entry into the mediation role regarding Gaza for the first time represents an opportunity to strike a balance in mediation efforts in cooperation with Qatar and Egypt," the Vienna-based political analyst Hossam Shaker told AFP, saying it would help curb "the usual American bias toward Israel".
Erdogan has said Turkey was ready to join the international task force in Gaza, with its military also expressing willingness to participate if needed.
A Turkish diplomatic source told AFP "the task force, or stability force, is expected to have a military component" but said its structure hadn't been decided, with talks continuing over which nations would join and at what level.
Turkey has dispatched 81 disaster response specialists who are still "waiting at the Egyptian border" for Israel's green light to enter Gaza, an official said.
The team from Turkey's disaster management agency will help recover Palestinian and Israeli bodies, including hostages believed to be buried or hidden in collapsed structures.
Apart from the Gaza talks, Turkey and Qatar signed several agreements, including in the area of defence industry cooperation.
Ankara is seeking to acquire some of Qatar's used Eurofighter Typhoon jets, a security source told AFP ahead of Erdogan's visit.
Andreas Krieg, a security expert at King's College London, said it would likely involve the sale of around a dozen Eurofighters in a deal that could "happen very quickly".
"I think at most, they'll be selling 12 (Eurofighters) to Turkey and obviously that transfer will only take place once the new planes (ordered by Qatar) come in, probably by the end of the year, early 2026," he told AFP.
The Turkish official gave little away about Wednesday's talks, saying only: "The details of the defence industry cooperation agreement will be clarified in the coming days."
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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