2 Qatari officials arrive in Gaza via Rafah crossing amid humanitarian pause

By Mohamed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Two Qatari officials arrived in Gaza on Sunday through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, as the temporary humanitarian pause in the besieged strip continues.

“The Qatari state minister for international cooperation, Lolwah Al-Khater, and deputy ambassador and chairman of the Qatar committee for the reconstruction of Gaza, Khaled Al-Hardan, arrived in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land crossing,” the media director of the Rafah crossing, Wael Abu Mohsen, told Anadolu.

No details regarding the purpose of the visit were provided.

It is the first visit by a Qatari delegation to Gaza since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the narrow region on Oct. 7.

A four-day humanitarian pause, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, went into effect on Friday, temporarily halting Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.

In the first two days of the pause, Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas exchanged 41 Israelis and foreigners for 78 Palestinians in Israeli jails.

Under the agreement, the hostages and prisoners will be released in batches during the course of four days.

Israel launched a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

It has since killed at least 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi