Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said that mediators are communicating with Israel and Hamas to take advantage of this week's ceasefire between Iran and Israel to push for a truce in the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Al-Ansari expressed his hope that this opportunity would not be wasted, saying, "If we do not seize this opportunity and this momentum, it will be one missed opportunity among many that have been available in the recent past. We do not want to witness this again."
Mediators have been engaged in months of negotiations aimed at ending the 20-month war in Gaza, and Al-Ansari explained that while there are no current talks between the two sides, Qatar has been "very involved in talking to each side separately."
"We have seen what American pressure can achieve," Al-Ansari said, referring to the truce that saw the release of dozens of Hamas detainees in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The Qatari official added that, especially in the wake of the US announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, it is "not unlikely" that American pressure will achieve a new truce in Gaza. He emphasized, "We are working closely with them to ensure that the international community as a whole, and especially the United States, exerts appropriate pressure to ensure that both sides sit at the negotiating table."
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he believed a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week. Speaking to reporters at a White House event celebrating the peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, he said he believed a ceasefire in Gaza was "imminent," adding that he had just been speaking with some of those involved in trying to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli soldiers' testimonies: We kill aid workers in Gaza on high orders.
Trump's remarks came hours after a US source "closely connected to the mediation" between Hamas and the Israeli government revealed details of the ongoing contacts aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement in the besieged Gaza Strip. The US source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, "At the moment, things appear to be faltering, given Hamas's insistence on rejecting the latest formula presented by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains his hardline position of rejecting any formula that includes the term 'ending the war.'"
"We're providing, as you know, a lot of money and food to that area," Trump stressed, before adding, "We're involved because people are dying. We're seeing these crowds of people who don't have any food, anything." The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz quoted Israeli soldiers as saying that commanders in the occupation army ordered troops to shoot civilians near aid distribution centers "even if they posed no threat."
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, ignoring international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop it. The genocide has left approximately 189,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that has claimed the lives of many, including children. Israel has been blockading Gaza for 18 years, and approximately 1.5 million Palestinians, out of a population of approximately 2.4 million in the Strip, have become homeless after the war of extermination destroyed their homes.
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Qatari Foreign Ministry: There is a chance for a truce in Gaza