Israel's Rafah invasion pushed truce talks with Hamas 'backward': Qatari PM
Israel continues its military onslaught in Rafah, despite US warnings against a full-scale assault on the south Gaza city that is crowded with displaced Palestinians.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas's political office in Doha since 2012, has been engaged –– along with Egypt and the United States –– in months of behind-the-scenes mediation between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group. / Photo: AA
Israel's invasion in Rafah has set truce negotiations with Hamas "backward", mediator Qatar said, adding that talks have reached "almost a stalemate".
"Especially in the past few weeks, we have seen some momentum building but unfortunately things didn't move in the right direction and right now we are on a status of almost a stalemate," Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday.
"Of course, what happened with Rafah has set us backward."
"There is no clarity on how to stop the war from the Israeli side. I don't think that they are considering this as an option... even when we are talking about the deal and leading to a potential ceasefire," Sheikh Mohammed said.
Israeli politicians were indicating "by their statements that they will remain there, they will continue the war. And there is no clarity on what Gaza will look like after this", he added.
US warning
Israel continued to fight Hamas in Rafah on Monday, despite US warnings against a full-scale assault on the south Gaza city that is crowded with displaced Palestinians.
At a separate news conference, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said humanitarian aid had been unable to reach the people of Gaza since May 9, after Israel launched incursions into Rafah and closed the main aid crossings.
"Our brothers in Gaza have not received any aid since May 9, and this is an indication of the continued perpetuation of the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip," Majed al-Ansari said.
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