Qatar, UN explore ways to facilitate humanitarian aid access into Gaza
Istanbul, Turkey - Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman held talks in Doha on Sunday with UN Under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths to discuss ways of facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.
The talks dwelt on ways to bolster regional and international efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to facilitate an obstacle-free humanitarian aid access to Gaza, the state news agency QNA reported. Bin Abdulrahman, who is also a foreign minister, underlined the importance of the UN role in supporting efforts ‘to battle the worsening humanitarian catastrophe and put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian brothers trapped in the Gaza Strip’.
Qatar, along with Egypt and the US, is mediating between Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement on a Gaza truce and hostage-prisoner swap.
Hamas, which is believed to be holding nearly 130 Israeli hostages, demands an end to Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip in return for any hostage deal with Israel.
Gaps in talks, says Israeli official
An Israeli official said on Saturday that there are ‘gaps’ in negotiations in Qatar on a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. He said the US has offered a compromise accepted by Tel Aviv but is awaiting a response from Hamas.
The Israeli broadcasting authority quoted the unidentified ‘senior’ official who said the American proposal includes ‘Israel’s commitment not to assassinate senior Hamas leaders if they are expelled from the Gaza Strip, in exchange for an agreement that includes disarming the strip and the release of all prisoners held in Gaza’.
The proposal added the withdrawal of Israeli army forces from the enclave.
The official said the proposal ‘is being promoted by the
United States as part of the stage following the deal to release 40 hostages in Gaza in exchange for a six-week ceasefire’.
He said negotiations are continuing on Saturday evening in Qatar. On Friday, an Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea left for the Qatari capital of Doha, to participate in indirect negotiations with the Palestinian resistance group for a prisoner exchange deal, mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt.