By Ibrahim Khazen
DOHA, Qatar (AA) - Qatar and the US held discussions Monday on mediation efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7 last year.
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani received a phone call from his American counterpart Antony Blinken, according to a statement from the Qatari Foreign Ministry.
The top diplomats discussed “developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, updates on joint mediation efforts aimed at ending the war on the Gaza Strip, and the constant tensions in the Middle East.”
They emphasized “the need for calm and de-escalation in the region,” according to the statement.
The two sides also reviewed “the close strategic ties between the State of Qatar and the United States and ways to support and strengthen them.”
Egypt, Qatar and the US have been trying for months to secure a truce and the release of the 120 remaining hostages in Gaza, but to no avail.
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring about a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel, however, argues that it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting and wants to end the governance capabilities of the group.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Nearly 39,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 91,400 injured, according to local health authorities.
Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul