The United States, Egypt, and Qatar have proposed a new peace plan for the Middle East that would begin with the release of hostages and eventually lead to the withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war in the Gaza Strip, reports The Wall Street Journal. Neither side of the conflict has agreed to the terms of the new proposal, which contains steps that contradict the stated positions of Israel and Hamas. People with knowledge of the talks said that Israel and Hamas are at least ready to discuss again after several weeks of stagnation following the end of the last ceasefire on November …