RABAT, December 10. /TASS/. Israel’s shelling attacks on the Gaza Strip complicate mediatory efforts and worsen the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave, Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.

He met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on the sidelines of the Doha forum to discuss the situation in the Middle East conflict zone, the WAFA news agency reported.

"Continuing Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip after the termination of the humanitarian ceasefire (on December 1 - TASS) complicate mediatory efforts and contribute to the humanitarian catastrophe [in the enclave]," he stressed.

According to the top Qatari diplomat, "Qatar and its partner mediators are committed to further efforts to reach tranquility leading to a lasting ceasefire."

Since the very beginning of the current round of escalation, Qatar has been making mediatory efforts to establish a truce in the Gaza Strip and reach prisoner exchange agreements.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.