Doha, Dec 3 (EFE).- Qatar’s foreign minister on Sunday told his American counterpart that Doha is committed to continuing mediation to reach a new truce in Gaza, but warned that the resumption of Israel’s operations “complicates” the process.
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani addresses a high-level summit on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals on the sidelines of this week’s General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, New York, US, 18 September 2023. EFE-EPA FILE/JUSTIN LANE
“Qatar is committed, with its mediation partners, to continue the efforts for the return of calm, stressing that the continued bombing of the Gaza Strip after the end of the pause complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip,” Mohammed bin Abdulrahman told Antony Blinken in a phone call, according to a statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The officials addressed “means of de-escalation and ceasefire,” after the last truce agreed on Nov. 24 between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas expired last Friday amid mutual accusations.
In this sense, the head of Qatari diplomacy highlighted the country’s “firm stance on condemning all forms of targeting civilians, and that killing civilians, especially women and children, and practicing the policy of collective punishment [on Gaza] are unacceptable under any pretext.”
Qatar, which has hosted a Hamas political office in Doha for a decade, has acted, together with Egypt and the United States, as a key mediator between the Islamist group and Israel to reach the truce, which allowed the exchange of 100 hostages in Gaza for the release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners.
Since the end of the truce, Israel has expanded its operations in the south of the Gaza Strip, where Israel ordered Palestinians to evacuate to and where a large part of the displaced population is now concentrated, in parallel with the launch of attacks inside and outside the enclave by Hamas.
At least 15,523 Palestinians have been killed and more than 41,000 injured by Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip since the war began, following the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that left at least 1,200 dead. EFE
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