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.

Mediator Qatar gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal to end the war in Gaza on Monday, after a midnight "breakthrough" in talks attended by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's envoy, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.

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.

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 on Wednesday announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, pausing the devastating 15-month war in Gaza and clearing the way for dozens of Israeli hostages to go home.

Qatar's Prime Minister said in Davos on Tuesday he hoped the Palestinian Authority would return to play a governing role in Gaza once the war with Israel comes to an end.

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 has handed over drafts of a possible ceasefire agreement to both Hamas and Israel, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday, adding that this is the closest point to a deal over the past months.

The Biden administration is putting pressure on a deal before the inauguration, which will see President-elect Donald Trump return to the White House.

Israel and Hamas agreed to pause the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, mediators announced Wednesday, raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies.

Qatar, the mediating country in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release between Israel and the Islamic group Hamas, says the parties are at the "closest point" they have been in the past months to reaching an agreement.