During the week when global leaders were praising Qatar for mediating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Qatar’s negotiators discreetly increased their efforts to mediate the conflict. They were concerned that the ceasefire might fail before it had even begun.

Qatari officials worked through the night to help secure the crucial final details of a ceasefire that lasted seven days before hostilities resumed on Friday. This ceasefire allowed for the release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and it also allowed for the flow of humanitarian aid into the shattered coastal strip. On Friday, Qatar announced it was working with both parties to negotiate a revised agreement.

According to Reuters, the most comprehensive account to date of how Qatar’s mediators in Doha helped to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas on November 22 has been stitched together. It provides a peek at Qatar’s aggressive attitude in negotiations between what one source participating in the negotiations referred to as “two parties that have zero level of confidence in each other.”

According to Abdullah Al Sulaiti, a professional diplomat of Qatar’s primary negotiators, there were genuine concerns that the initial truce deal would never be implemented when presented to the public last week.

“I thought we were going to lose it and that the agreement wouldn’t fly,” he commented in an interview. “I thought we were going to lose it.” The terms of the agreement that covered the truce as well as the swaps of prisoners and hostages that accompanied it were not very specific.

According to sources in Qatar, the Palestinian Territories, and Egypt, who are acquainted with the high-stakes discussions, the negotiators from the tiny Gulf state were aware that Israel and Hamas had not yet reached an agreement on when or how the truce and the exchange would occur.

According to a source briefed on the discussions, it was vital to define all of the items in the agreement and ensure they meant the same thing to Israel and Hamas.

According to the source, who requested not to be identified due to the delicate nature of the discussions, the Israeli side had committed to “park” tanks that it was operating within the Gaza strip. However, none had agreed on what exactly that meant on the ground.

According to a source briefed on the discussions, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani cleaned up his itinerary to maintain his concentration. He did this by canceling excursions scheduled to take him to Moscow and London.

According to the source, Sheikh Mohammed initiated a new round of discussions on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 22, inside one of his offices in Doha. This occurred just a few hours after the truce was announced.

David Barnea, the head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, and a group of Egyptian intelligence officials were present for the primary meeting of the Prime Minister. Barnea had arrived from Israel for at least the third time since the beginning of the conflict. The source claimed that the Qataris used a different area to call Hamas representatives who had stayed in their villa office across town.

An official from the United States who is aware of the situation and Egyptian security sources have stated that the Qataris’ approach to mediation was to be proactive and to throw their weight into discussions. This was in contrast to the traditional technique of just passing on signals from one side to the other.

An official from the United States stated that Doha had already utilized such strategies to press for solutions to overcome the gaps in demands that existed between Israel and Hamas. This was particularly noticeable when negotiators addressed the delicate matter of hostages before the initial declaration of a ceasefire.

In response to the comprehensive questions posed for this piece, neither the United States Department of State nor the Hamas political office in Doha responded. Mossad is under the supervision of the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which refuses to comment on the matter.

According to statements made to the press by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hamas and Israel met in Doha until “the early morning” on November 23 and reached an agreement on a strategy to put the ceasefire agreement into effect the following day. In a particular story, it did not reply to a request for a comment.

THE TERM “POSTMEN”
At the beginning of the discussions, the administration of Netanyahu stated that it would not exchange Palestinian detainees detained in Israel for hostages held in Gaza. In 2011, Hamas was successful in obtaining the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees who were being held in Israel in return for the release of one Israeli soldier. According to those aware of the discussions, Hamas made several demanding requests.

A compromise was reached between the two parties, which stipulated that there would be three Palestinian inmates for every civilian hostage.

The official from Qatar, who was participating in the discussions, stated that the most important thing was to make changes to the proposal that was being made by one party until it was acceptable to the other side.

According to what he stated, “We say ‘Listen, let’s have a second round of discussions with you before we send the proposal,'” he said while speaking under the condition of complete anonymity.

“If we decided to be like postmen and deliver letters only, I doubt that we would have finished this agreement.”

The person informed of the discussions stated that Qatari representatives worked the phones and traveled back and forth between several rooms on November 22.

To get a consensus on the precise location in Gaza where Israeli tanks would be stationed during the truce, Qatari mediators facilitated negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Similarly, they mediated an agreement over how Israeli forces would fulfill a demand presented by Hamas to evacuate Gaza hospitals, particularly Al Shifa, where they had taken positions, according to the source.

He added that the negotiators, some of whom have been active in Israel-Hamas mediations since 2014, also needed to hammer out a vital feature: a safety mechanism meant to ensure that any tiny breach in the ceasefire would not lead it to collapse. This was a crucial element that needed to be worked out.

According to him, they successfully got both sides to agree to particular processes they would be required to follow in the event of an incident. These procedures included a study of realistic scenarios such as gunfire or tank movements.

It was shortly after the truce went into effect that Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians who were attempting to relocate to northern Gaza, according to the source. This triggered the mechanism, which was activated.

According to a readout of the call by the White House, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke on the phone with Vice President Joe Biden of the United States of America almost five hours into the summit. During their conversation, they addressed the execution of the arrangement.

A few hours after the marathon session had concluded, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the ceasefire would go into effect in Gaza on Friday, November 24, at seven o’clock in the morning.

CONTACT THE MEDIATOR
As one of the very few nations that maintains an open line of contact with both Israel and Hamas, the gas-rich nation of Qatar has emerged as the primary go-to mediator in the conflict that has been going on for many weeks since the attack by Hamas on January 7. The United States of America and Russia also lauded the contributions made by their “Qatari friends.”

Qatar’s mediation efforts have also been met with criticism from Western nations. Specifically, lawmakers from the United States and Europe have accused the Gulf States of assisting Hamas, which they consider to be a terrorist organization.

When Sheikh Tamim arrived in Berlin a month ago, the ambivalence was displayed: “State visit by the blood emir,” read the banner title on the November 12 edition of the German daily Bild.

Officials from Qatar have stated that they started receiving representatives from Hamas in Doha in 2012, at the request of the United States government, following the removal of the political office of the Palestinian terrorists from Syria. According to Qatari sources, Israel carefully examines every money transfer that Qatar provides to Palestinians living in Gaza.

According to Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, Qatar’s capacity to successfully negotiate in this dispute is likely the most essential aspect behind Qatar’s ability to do so. This is because Qatar has a personal relationship to the top members of the terrorist group.

Their words are, “Look. We have offered an office and logistical assistance at a considerable expense to our existing reputation.We were the only ones who were there for you when you needed us, and now is when you need to return the favor,” he said. “We are the only ones who were there for you.”

Even though Qatari negotiators were near Hamas officials, they did not communicate directly with the leaders of the group in Gaza. Instead, they communicated with Hamas representatives located in Doha. During the month and a half of intensive combat that preceded the truce on November 24, the communication chain was interrupted many times, at one point, for two full straight days. According to the person who was informed of the discussions, this was due to power outages or Israeli shutdowns.

Mossad frequently plays a diplomatic role in Israel’s contacts with Qatar. This is because the two nations do not have official diplomatic connections, a condition that, according to one Western source in the Gulf, helped to hold down the process.

Following the attack that took place on October 7 by the terrorist organization Hamas, Israel claims that gunmen murdered 1,200 people and abducted 240 captives. In reaction to this, Netanyahu has vowed to completely eradicate Hamas, which is the ruling party in Gaza.

The Israeli government responded by conducting a bombardment of the region for seven weeks, which resulted in the deaths of over 15,000 Palestinians, as reported by health officials in the coastal strip.

There have been around one hundred hostages freed from Gaza since the beginning of the ceasefire, including those who are not Israeli. A minimum of 210 Palestinians have been freed from Israeli prisons, and relief groups have been granted permission to boost the amount of fuel and humanitarian material that is being shipped to Gaza.

In an interview with Reuters, Al Sulaiti, the Qatari mediator, stated that his task was not yet over even though the truce had been effective.

“At the beginning, I thought that reaching an agreement would be the most difficult step,” said the government servant who has been involved in mediations between Israel and Hamas since 2014. “I’ve discovered that sustaining the agreement itself is equally challenging.”

The duration of the ceasefire was nearly precisely one week. In response to Israel’s accusations that Hamas had fired rockets and broken a commitment to release all of the women who were being held as hostages, hostilities escalated once again on Friday.

The only parenting book I read before my almost-four-year-old son Leo was born was Pamela Druckerman’s 2012 Bringing up Bébé. As an American transplant raising kids in France, Druckerman observed that the French child is not the sun in the familial solar system. I prepared myself to nurture and prune a bien-élevé (well-mannered) toddler—the kind that wears smocked Liberty print dresses, sits and colors, and eats braised endives while her parents hold forth about a new podcast. The book’s thesis and the key to a civilized French household: the parents are in charge, not the children. “C’est moi qui décide,” is the French mother’s last word to her obstreperous child.

I thought of Druckerman’s credo several years ago when I accompanied a friend and her two-and-half-year-old to get ice cream. “He only likes strawberry,” my friend told the teenager behind the counter. “And it cannot contain seeds.” This part, my friend repeated in the sort of non-negotiable tone that a pop star’s tour manager might demand the absence of carnations from a dressing room flower arrangement. Obviously ill-versed in the toddler mood-swing, the teenager informed us there was no more seedless strawberry ice cream to be had. Gamely, if naively, she suggested strawberry frozen yogurt that would be made on the spot with actual strawberries —!!!—and their seeds. Reluctantly, my friend agreed, and then proceeded to meticulously de-seed every spoonful as her son suspiciously appraised her efforts. As I watched, I thought of all of those French children surely quietly, gratefully, tucking into bowlfuls of seed-ed cassis sorbet, and I smugly told myself—with the superiority of the childless—that I would never be one of those mothers who tend slavishly to the demands of their offspring.

Day saying great fish unto first set which very.

Then I had Leo. And I have been his butler (I mean mother) for almost 4 years. To my relief, he is all for a seeded ice cream, which is not to say that he does not have other, let’s call them, eccentricities. It occurred to me that things might be taking a problematic turn when Leo was about two, and I found myself carrying a breakfast tray upstairs so that he might enjoy a morning bed picnic. He sat in my bed in his pajamas, reclining against more pillows than you’d find in a guest bedroom in a Nancy Meyers movie. I had long nurtured a Downton Abbey fantasy, but here I was, cast in the wrong role.

Master Leo just needs a little bell!

But he already has one: at about 18 months, I’d attached a plush musical pull-toy to the edge of his crib. Instead of playing it before going to sleep, Leo took to yanking on the string—prompting a Brahms’ lullaby to sound—upon rising from his nap, ostensibly ringing for service. “I’d like water!” he’d say. As I’d scurry downstairs, he’d call out, refining his order: “Freezing cold!” Now, whenever I hear Brahms, I feel a Pavlovian urge to leap to my feet and beeline to his side, like a flight attendant heading towards a first-class passenger who’s just buzzed for beverage service.

I HAD LONG NURTURED A DOWNTON ABBEY FANTASY, BUT HERE I WAS, CAST IN THE WRONG ROLE.

“Master Leo just needs a little bell!” a friend suggested, laughing. But he already has one: at about 18 months, I’d attached a plush musical pull-toy to the edge of his crib. Instead of playing it before going to sleep, Leo took to yanking on the string—prompting a Brahms’ lullaby to sound—upon rising from his nap, ostensibly ringing for service. “I’d like water!” he’d say. As I’d scurry downstairs, he’d call out, refining his order: “Freezing cold!” Now, whenever I hear Brahms, I feel a Pavlovian urge to leap to my feet and beeline to his side, like a flight attendant heading towards a first-class passenger who’s just buzzed for beverage service.

The demand for transparency in the fashion industry has resulted in brands like Burberry and DVF vowing to go fur-free, and most recently, Chanel forgoing the use of exotic skins and fur in their future collections. To kick off the new year, Tiffany & Co. joins this fold, announcing plans to share the provenance (the origin) of its newly sourced, individually registered diamonds.

After a chance encounter with a beautiful blonde writer named Beck (Elizabeth Lail), Joe stalks her and eventually wins her affection—but not without killing off people within her inner circle first.

The chilling tale left viewers with many unanswered questions by the end of its first season, but now that You has been renewed, the show’s makers and actors have planted the earliest seeds of what’s to come next for Joe Goldberg. Here’s what we know about You season 2 so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKOhno0IMpA

Season 2 is filming in Los Angeles

The series heads out west for season 2. Sera Gamble, the series’ showrunner, played it by the book; she told The Hollywood Reporter about the show’s change of location, and what it means for Joe’s character. “Joe Goldberg comes to L.A. and he is a die-hard New Yorker, so I can’t say that he comes to L.A. and he instantly falls in love with the place. At least at first glance, this is not Joe’s kind of town, which is delightful.”

People who watched the show will remember that Paco and his mother Claudia move to Los Angeles, so it’s possible that a Joe/Paco reunion may be in the works.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsg8nVijnmZ/

The book You is based on has a sequel

You was based on Caroline Kepnes’ novel of the same name. Kepnes wrote a sequel, Hidden Bodies, which tells the story of Joe moving to L.A. This would be a good read if you want to get the scoop ahead of the second season. Kepnes has also hinted that there might be a third book in the series, so stay tuned; she told a fan on Goodreads, “You’ll get more Joe eventually.”

Who’s been confirmed for the second season?

Elizabeth Lail sat down with Radio Times after the series premiered to Netflix to say that she will not be returning to the show—Joe did murder her character, after all. “I am sad to not continue that journey with him,” Lail said, referring to Badgley. “The unfortunate thing is, the woman doesn’t win in the end…and I’m so sick and tired of that.”

Despite the series making it clear that Joe murdered Beck after she found out about him stalking her and murdering her friends, fans got their hopes up. Joe’s ex, Candace (played by Ambyr Childers), not only appeared in flashbacks throughout the series, but also showed up alive and confronted Joe in the finale’s cliffhanger after he (supposedly) killed her. This made fans hope that Beck, by the same thought, might make an appearance in future seasons, even though Lail dispelled the rumor.

Ditto. It will be all the motivation I need for season 2. https://t.co/fy2hojauDG

— Penn Badgley (@PennBadgley) January 9, 2019

In theory, we’re not done with Dr. Nicky.

While Beck was forced by Joe to think about “what she did,” Beck wrote a novel that framed Dr. Nicky, her therapist—whom she cheated on Joe with—for her kidnapping in the hopes of obtaining her freedom. After Joe killed her, he published the novel and Dr. Nicky was arrested and sent to prison due to the incriminating manuscript.

“Dr. Nicky is in prison and he is ardently protesting his innocence,” Gamble told THR. “It’s too soon to say definitely whether John Stamos will return in season 2 but we have been talking a lot about the character and we’re excited to keep telling that story.”