DUBAI, January 23. /TASS/. Qatar continues to act as a mediator for Israel and the Palestinian Hamas radical movement in a bid to settle the crisis in the Gaza Strip, Majed al-Ansari, Qatari foreign ministry spokesman, said.
"As for mediatory efforts, they will continue. Qatar has not stopped them since day one [of the conflict escalation]," he told a news conference in Doha. "We are using every opportunity to exchange views and find a solution in our contacts with all parties to the conflict and various regional and international players."
According to the Qatari diplomat, the majority of media reports about the talks are not true. "Naturally, we have seen and read media reports about these [mediatory] efforts. <…> The thing is that much of this is untrue or incomplete and has nothing to do with the recent developments," he said.
"We continue working, talks are underway <…>. But the situation on the ground is changing. The ongoing escalation impacts the negotiating process," al-Ansari noted.
In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The deal stipulated the release of Israeli women and children being held hostage in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons. The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip.