Official Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Majid bin Muhammad Al Ansari
Doha, Qatar: Official Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Majid bin Muhammad Al Ansari, has said that process to reach a peace deal in Gaza is progressing and Qatar is engaged with both sides on the proposals.
Regarding prospects of any imminent deal to end war in Gaza, he said, “What I can tell you is that the process right now is progressing and we have been working with both sides on the proposals.” In a weekly press briefing yesterday, Al Ansari also called on the international community to pressure the Israeli and Palestinian parties to accept the proposal announced by US President Joe Biden to end the war in the Gaza Strip. He said: “Following the momentum, internationally driven by the United States and the statements by President Biden in his speech, we also need to be very cautious about assessing the situation right now ... we are seeing contradictory statements coming in from Israeli ministers.”
He said that Qatar is using its leverage to add any meaning in the mediation on the talks table to make sure that both sides understand the gravity of the situation and the need to reach an agreement.
He said Qatar is very optimistic about the fact that a momentum is building up. “Obviously right now, we haven’t had concrete approval to the suggestions on the table by both sides. And we have seen the contradictory statements coming in from Israeli ministers. However, we can see that there is a positive momentum building up within both sides. The statements from Hamas were quite positive, although falling short of commitment to the language and asking for more clarification but they were positive. We have also seen positive movement in Israel where the government is meeting right now.”
He stated that the current round of negotiations between the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation forces, under Qatari, Egyptian and American sponsorship, is closely linked to the principles set out by the US President in his recent speech, pointing out that there are clear ideas on the table for the two parties to negotiate.
He explained that an Israeli proposal had been received that reflects the principles as mentioned by President Biden and was transferred to Hamas, saying: “The paper now includes positions that are closer than before to the positions of both sides, and we are currently making every effort to put the final touches to reach an agreement.”
To a question about any solution to the conflict other than dialogue, he stressed that military solutions do not lead to results, but rather it is necessary to sit at the negotiating table and engage in dialogue.
He pointed out that this aggression has so far led to the martyrdom of more than 36,000 people in the Gaza Strip, and more than 82,000 wounded, in addition to the displacement of more than a million people as a result of this aggression, and now they find themselves in a new displacement amid direct targeting, warning that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it was unable to provide its aid, after it was suspended by the occupation at the Rafah crossing.
The official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, “The scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is worsening every day and has reached a level that we believe is the bottom.”
