Cease-fire in Gaza could be quickly achieved if Israel opts to end war: Qatar

By Ibrahim Al Khazen

DOHA, Qatar (AA) - Qatar said Tuesday that a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip could be achieved within days if Israel ends its insistence on continuing the war.

The statement was made during a weekly press briefing by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari.

“Starting from the attacks on the land and ending with the ongoing raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, these continuous attacks indicate Israel’s lack of seriousness in reaching a state of peace,” Al Ansari said.

“In the event of a change in the Israeli position and if the Israelis give up their insistence on continuing the war, an agreement could be reached within days,” he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Al Ansari told a press conference in the Qatari capital Doha that “our mediation between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza continues, and we are working to evaluate it.”

“We will not accept being exploited by any party,” he added.

He said that Israel does not have a roadmap to end the war on the Gaza Strip.

“We continue to work with our brothers in the region and with Washington to break the deadlock in the talks between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza.”

Qatar “dealt with the mediation issue in good faith and demonstrated its commitment to the principle of mediation to achieve peace, and we will not accept abuse from any party,” he stressed.

Qatar and Egypt have been key players in talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire and hostage swap deal between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel.

Last week, Hamas, which is believed to be holding nearly 130 Israelis since its Oct. 7 cross-border attack, accepted a proposal drawn up by Qatar and Egypt for a cease-fire in Gaza.

But Israel said the truce offer did not meet its key demands and decided to push ahead with an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is home to more than 1.5 million displaced people, to apply "military pressure on Hamas with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”

Nearly 35,180 Palestinians have been killed and over 79,000 others injured in a brutal Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

The group demands an end to Israel’s ongoing military offensive on the Gaza Strip in return for any hostage swap with Tel Aviv.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in the enclave.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio