ADDS CONCLUDING STATEMENT ON G-20 VIRTUAL SUMMIT BY INDIA, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT
By Ahmad Adil
NEW DELHI (AA) - The G-20 leaders Wednesday hailed a humanitarian pause agreed to by Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, and Israel in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The welcome statement by the grouping of world's top 20 economies came at a virtual summit hosted by India.
"G-20 members on the whole welcomed the understanding which has been reached on the release of hostages, on the flow of relief material to Gaza and some pause in the fighting, said Indian Foreign minister S. Jaishankar, who said situation in Middle East has “deteriorated dramatically.”
“Everybody welcomed to what had been agreed as a result of Qatar, US and Egypt working out this particular understating,” Jaishankar told reporters in New Delhi after the conclusion of the summit hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Indian top diplomat noted that "many" member nations of the G-20 spoke out “explicitly,” during the summit as the two-state solution on the Palestine issue.
"I cannot say there was a consensus on a two state solution," Jaishankar said.
He, however, added, the focus is right now “ensuring” the conflict doesn’t “spill over beyond where it is.”
Indian officials said 22 heads of governments participated in the summit.
Modi said earlier that the situation of “insecurity and instability in the West Asia (Middle East) region, concerns us all,” and “death of civilians, wherever they may be, is condemnable.”
He said ongoing the conflict between Israel and Hamas should not spread to a regional conflict.
“We welcome the news of the release of hostages today, and hope for the swift release of all hostages … it is also crucial to ensure that the conflict between Israel and Hamas, does not take on any kind of regional form,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced that an agreement on a four-day humanitarian pause was achieved between Israel and Hamas, with the starting time of the pause to be announced within 24 hours.
The Qatar-mediated agreement suggests the announcement of a four-day pause in fighting, the entry of 300 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including fuel, into the Gaza Strip, release of 50 Israelis held by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.
The agreement also allows an extension of the pause and the potential release of more children and women held by the two sides.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.
Authorities in Gaza said Tuesday that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave since then has risen past 14,100 people – including over 5,800 children and 3,900 women. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.