Qatar, one of the mediators between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, announced today that it is awaiting a clear answer from the Israeli government on the cease-fire plan announced by US President Joseph Biden.
"We have not yet seen a very clear position of the Government of Israel on the principles presented by Biden," said the spokesman of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed al-Ansari, at a press conference.
He added that they had seen and read the contradictory statements of the Israeli ministers, which did not convince them that there is a single position on the proposal that is currently on the table.
A Qatari official said that Hamas had not announced its position either.
"We have not seen a single announcement, from either side, that would give us confidence in the process," the spokesman said, but confirmed that the process is progressing and that Doha is cooperating with both sides.
For months now, Qatar, along with the US and Egypt, has been mediating in order to achieve a ceasefire and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip, where the war has been going on for eight months.
However, negotiations have been at a standstill since the beginning of May, when Israel launched a ground offensive in Rafah, in the south of Gaza.
The plan, unveiled by the US president on Friday, a road map proposed by Israel, he said, calls for a six-week truce in the first phase, followed by an Israeli withdrawal from the densely populated areas of Gaza, along with the release of some hostages (women and the sick) and Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prison.
Repeated contradictory demands from hostile sides and reactions from Israel have cast doubt on the success of the new plan, while more and more countries around the world are calling for an end to the conflict.
The President of the United States and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, spoke on Monday, and in that telephone conversation, Biden confirmed that Hamas is now "the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire in Gaza," according to the White House.
Since 2012, the political office of Hamas has been located in Qatar, with the blessing of the United States.
(BETA)
Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 36.550 Palestinians and wounded 82.959 since Oct. 7, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said Tuesday.
As reported by the Reuters agency, a total of 71 Palestinians were killed and 182 wounded in the past 24 hours, the ministry said.
The head of the United Nations for human rights, Volker Turk, said on Tuesday that the norms and standards of the conduct of war have been brutally violated in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Speaking in Malaysia, Turk welcomed the US-proposed ceasefire deal, calling the situation in Gaza "beyond catastrophic".
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has entered its 242th day.
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