Gaza ceasefire talks going through 'sensitive stage': Qatari PM
4 Min Read
The Qatari PM says his country constantly calls on the international community to assume its responsibilities and stop this war.
-
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani speaks during a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Mohamed Alhahkim in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March. 24, 2021. (AP/Khalid Mohammed)
Negotiations between "Israel" and the Palestinian Resistance group Hamas over a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange deal have stalled, Qatar's Prime Minister said on Wednesday.
"We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this stalling," Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told a news conference with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
Negotiators are trying to "move forward and put an end to the suffering that the people in Gaza are experiencing" and the release of Israeli captives held by the Palestinian Resistance, Sheikh al-Thani said.
The Qatari premier said Doha had "warned from the beginning of this war against the expansion of the circle of conflict, and today we see conflicts on different fronts."
"We constantly call on the international community to assume its responsibilities and stop this war," he added, saying people of Gaza faced "siege and starvation" with humanitarian aid being used as a "tool for political blackmail."
Al-Thani affirmed that Qatar condemns the policy of collective punishment that "Israel" continues to implement in the Gaza Strip, as well as the escalation in the occupied West Bank.
This comes as earlier, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced in its daily report today that the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza due to the Israeli genocide since October 7 has now reached 33,899 and those injured to 76,664.
Hamas made several modifications to Cairo proposal in a response
On April 13, a high-ranking Palestinian Resistance official told Al Mayadeen that Hamas delivered its response to the latest proposal it received from mediators in Egypt and Qatar.
Hamas' response included clauses on several issues disputed by the Israeli occupation's negotiators, the sources added.
Several clauses, pertaining to the first stage of the proposed deal, were modified by the Palestinian Resistance, including the main points relating to the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced Palestinians to their homes, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the detainees-to-captives ratio to be exchanged in the deal.
According to the sources, modifications were also made to the second stage of the proposed deal, in which Hamas demanded a clear written item on a complete ceasefire.
Hamas confirmed that it delivered a response to the mediators, saying that it will stand by the main demands it made in previous messages to mediators.
Hamas adhering to its conditions for prisoner deal: Haniyeh-Exclusive
In an exclusive interview aired last week, the head of Hamas' Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, told Al Mayadeen that the Palestinian Resistance group is adhering to the conditions it had set in negotiations and will not engage in any deal with "Israel" without their fulfillment.
Haniyeh emphasized the Resistance's insistence on the necessity of declaring a permanent and clear ceasefire in Gaza.
He made it clear that the Israeli occupation has not eliminated Hamas and shall not eliminate it, pointing out that the Israeli government has not retrieved its captives held in Gaza and shall not retrieve them except through "an honorable deal."
The Palestinian leader affirmed the Resistance's insistence on the complete withdrawal and the return of the displaced people to Gaza without any conditions or barriers, in addition to the conditions regarding relief and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, leading to a prisoner exchange deal.
