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Gaza ceasefire agreement unlikely to be reached soon — Qatari diplomat

Majed Al-Ansari noted that his country wants a lasting ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave rather than a short pause

DUBAI, March 12. /TASS/. The Gaza ceasefire talks continue but the mediators have not moved any closer to an agreement between the parties to the conflict, Qatari foreign ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari said.

"The ongoing efforts by Qatar, as well as regional and international mediators are geared toward a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. <…> Talks continue in Doha and Cairo, but we have not moved closer to a ceasefire agreement," he told a news conference aired by the Al Jazeera television channel.

The Qatari diplomat noted that his country wants a lasting ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave rather than a short pause. According to Al-Ansari, the situation in Gaza is worsening and Qatar continues its efforts with all parties to the conflict and hopes that an agreement will finally be reached.

The Al Arabiya television channel said earlier on March 10 that Hamas is still undecided about the resumption of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is refusing to satisfy its demands.

Cairo hosted multilateral consultations on Gaza from March 3 to 7. The talks however yielded no agreements between Hamas and Israel.