A Qatari official has told Newsweek that the country at the center of the recently established ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement will support President Donald Trump in pushing both sides to adhere to the truce.

The cease-fire between Hamas and Israel is expected to go into effect on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time, Qatar’s foreign ministry announced Saturday.

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, said on Wednesday that he welcomed the potential for “a dialogue” with Hamas and heaped praise on Qatar for helping facilitate the cease-fire deal between Israel and Gaza, despite facing scrutiny for previous ties to the Gulf nation.

Qatar’s foreign ministry says the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) on Sunday.

Qatar’s Prime Minister has strongly criticized Israel for moving its troops into a sensitive buffer zone in Syria. The buffer zone, which lies near the Golan Heights, was set up by the United Nations in 1974 as a demilitarized area.

The truce will begin at 8:30 a.m., according to the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, a mediator in the talks. U.S. and other diplomats see the deal as the best chance to end the 15-month war that has devastated Gaza.

Qatar's prime minister said Tuesday that a lasting peace in Gaza would depend on Israel and Hamas acting in "good faith", days into a fragile truce in the Palestinian territory mediated by the Gulf state.

Qatar, a key negotiator in the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, confirmed Saturday that the first hostages will be released in less than 24 hours. Qatari Foreign Minister Majid al-Ansari ...

CAIRO (AP) — The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will go into effect Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT), mediator Qatar announced Saturday, as families of hostages held in Gaza braced ...

The deal eases the first major crisis of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Qatar’s statement early Monday says Hamas will hand over the civilian hostage, Arbel Yehoud, along with two other ...

But Israel said Yehoud should have been released ahead of the soldiers. Hamas said it had told mediators — the United States, Egypt and Qatar — that Yehoud was alive and provided guarantees ...