Qatar says ‘unaware’ of direct link between Lebanon, Gaza cease-fire efforts

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

ISTANBUL (AA) – Qatar said Thursday it is not aware of a “direct link” between proposed cease-fires for the conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

"I’m not aware of any direct link between efforts to calm the situation in Lebanon and Gaza…but the two files are intertwined and their paths are parallel,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a press conference in Doha.

"Lebanon is facing a full-fledged Israeli war, not an escalation, and Qatar calls for stopping the war now in Gaza and Lebanon," he added.

The Qatari spokesman said that his country will continue its efforts with partners to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon.

The US, EU, and nine other nations called on Israel and Hezbollah late Wednesday to agree to a 21-day cease-fire amid an escalation in their cross-border warfare.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, denied media reports that he agreed to the proposed cease-fire, saying that he ordered his army to keep striking Lebanon with full force.

The premier also said that the Israeli war in Gaza will continue “until all goals of the war are achieved.”

Qatar, along with Egypt and the US, has been mediating between Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire and prisoner swap deal in Gaza. The mediation efforts, however, have stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to end the Gaza war.

Israel has pounded Lebanon since Monday morning, killing at least 640 people and injuring over 2,500 others, according to figures released by the Health Ministry.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border clashes since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar