Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani accused Israel today of continuing to violate the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip after a series of attacks carried out by his army in the Palestinian territories.
"We condemn again all Israeli violations and practices in Palestine, especially the transformation of the Gaza Strip into an area unfit for human life and the continued violations of the ceasefire," he said in his annual address to the Legislative Council in Doha.
Qatar is one of the key countries in negotiations between Israel and the militant Palestinian movement Hamas, whose officials do not negotiate personally with Jerusalem, but through their intermediaries from Doha and Cairo.
The emir said last week that Israel had tried to disrupt ceasefire talks by bombing a building in Doha to kill Hamas officials, but failed.
Al-Thani then said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "dreams of making the Arab region an Israeli sphere of influence," which, in his words, is a "dangerous illusion."
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