DOHA, Qatar — Qatar’s prime minister said Saturday that the Gaza ceasefire has reached a “critical moment” as its first phase winds down, with the remains of one Israeli hostage still to be handed over by militants.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at a conference in Doha, the Qatari capital, that international mediators led by the U.S. are working “to force the way forward” to the second phase to cement the deal.
“What we have just done is a pause,” Mohammed said at the Doha Forum. “We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire.”
He added: “A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today.”
While the ceasefire halted the heavy fighting of the two-year war, Gaza health officials say 360 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took effect Oct. 10.
In new violence, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike northwest of Gaza City, Shifa Hospital said.
Israel’s army said it wasn’t aware of an airstrike in that location. But it said that Israeli soldiers on Saturday killed three militants who crossed the so-called yellow line into the Israeli-controlled northern part of the Gaza Strip and “posed an immediate threat.”
The Israeli army has said it has carried out a number of attacks on Palestinians crossing the ceasefire line.
Second phase hasn’t begun
Under the first phase of the 20-point U.S. peace plan, the fighting stopped and dozens of hostages held in Gaza were exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israel sent a delegation last week to Egypt for talks on returning the remains of the last hostage.
The next phase has not begun. It includes the deployment of an international security force in Gaza, formation of a new technocratic government for the territory, disarmament of Hamas and an eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Arab and Western officials told the Associated Press on Friday that an international body overseeing the ceasefire, to be led by President Trump, is expected to be appointed by the end of the year. In the long term, the plan also calls for a possible “pathway” to Palestinian independence.
Sheikh Mohammed said that even the upcoming phase should be “temporary” and that peace in the region could take place only with the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state — something that is opposed by Israel’s hard-line government.
“If we are just resolving what happened in Gaza, the catastrophe that happened in the last two years, it’s not enough,” the prime minister said. “There is a root for this conflict. And this conflict is not only about Gaza.”
He added: “It’s about Gaza. It’s about the West Bank. It’s about the rights of the Palestinians for their state. We are hoping that we can work together with the U.S. administration to achieve this vision at the end of the day.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said there is a “big question” over the formation of an international security force for Gaza. Speaking at the conference, he said it’s unclear which countries will join, what the command structure would look like and what its “first mission” will be.
Turkey is one of the guarantors of the ceasefire, but Israel, which has rocky relations with the Ankara government, has rejected any Turkish participation in the force.
“Thousands of details, questions are in place,” Fidan said. “I think once we deploy [the international security force], the rest will come.”
U.N. agency seeks a clear role in Gaza
A day after an overwhelming international endorsement, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said its future role in Gaza is unclear.
Throughout the war, Israel and the United States have sidelined UNRWA, accusing it of cooperating with Hamas, a charge the agency denies.
Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA’s director of external relations and communications, said the agency continues to offer humanitarian and educational services in Gaza. But she said UNRWA has been excluded from U.S.-led talks on the ceasefire’s second phase.
Alrifai said that UNRWA serves as the de facto “public sector” in Gaza. And with 12,000 employees, she said it will be nearly impossible for the international community to duplicate the agency’s network of services.
“If you squeeze UNRWA out, what other agency can fill that void?” she said on the sidelines of the Doha Forum.
The U.S., formerly the largest donor to UNRWA, halted funding to the agency in early 2024. On Friday, the U.N. General Assembly renewed UNRWA’s mandate through 2029. But Alrifai said the cash crisis continues.
“Votes are great. Cash is better,” Alrifai said.
The war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants entered Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says that nearly half the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas government and its numbers are considered reliable by the U.N. and other international bodies.
Magdy and Federman write for the Associated Press.
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