Qatar, Saudi rulers meet for Gaza ceasefire talks

RIYADH/DOHA, July 23, (RTRS): Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani arrived in Jeddah on Tuesday to meet Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah for talks that focused on the situation in Gaza, according to SPA, the Saudi press agency.

A Doha-based source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the primary purpose of the Amir’s visit is to find a way to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. More than 600 people are reported to have been killed there in two weeks of fighting between Palestinians and Israelis.

“Qatar is committed to the Palestinian people and wants to do everything to stop the killing,” said the source. “The Amir’s visit to Saudi comes as part of that.”

The meeting is the first for the two monarchs since a major rift between Qatar and Saudi Arabia earlier this year. It comes as Doha has emerged as a possible peacemaker after the Islamist Hamas group, which controls Gaza, rejected a proposal for a ceasefire by Egypt, a close ally of Saudi Arabia.

Hamas demanded instead that any accord must include lifting a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on the Gaza Strip and a return to an understanding that ended a previous round of fighting in 2012.

On Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Qatar’s Amir in Doha and in an appeal filmed in the Gulf state stressed the unity of the Palestinian people. Officials from Abbas’s camp told Reuters that their conditions were aligned with those of Hamas.

Qatar bankrolled the elected Muslim Brotherhood government of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was overthrown by the military a year ago.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have since poured in money to support Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who led the takeover in Egypt and has since been elected president after outlawing and suppressing the Brotherhood.