A sense of urgency hung over the meeting.

The Qatari prime minister sat across from Hamas’ chief negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya, under the maroon-and-white flag of the Gulf nation on Monday evening. The two had met many times before in talks that often proved fruitless.

But this time was different.

The United States had just put forward a new ceasefire proposal that could end the nearly two-year war in Gaza. And Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani was pressuring Al-Hayya to accept.

The discussion wrapped up shortly before 9:30 in the evening, according to a source familiar with the meeting, but the real work was just beginning. After Al-Hayya left, Qatari negotiators got on the phone with their Israeli counterparts to update them on the nascent ceasefire effort.

Unlike most proposals, which came from Qatar and Egypt – the two key mediators able to speak with the US, Israel, and Hamas – this plan came directly from the Trump administration. Qatari negotiators had met with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Paris last week, and President Donald Trump wanted to see progress.

On Sunday, Trump issued what he described as his “last warning” to Hamas to accept the deal. He prematurely claimed Israel had accepted the proposal, even though Israeli officials had only said they were “seriously considering” it.

It fell on Qatar to turn the proposal into an agreement.