DUBAI, April 17. /TASS/. Unmediated talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip currently underway between Israel and the Palestinian radical movement Hamas have run into a hurdle, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at a joint press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in Doha.
"The negotiations are going through some difficulties, and we are trying to address this stumbling block to put an end to the suffering," the Al Hadath television quoted the head of Qatar’s government as saying. According to him, "Qatar condemns the policy of collective punishment that is still being pursued by Israel in the Gaza Strip, as well as the escalation in the West Bank."
Commenting on the latest escalation in the Middle East associated with tensions between Iran and Israel, Qatar’s premier called on all parties "to reduce the tensions and avoid plunging the region into a new round of conflicts."
Tensions flared up in the Middle East after the infiltration of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of border settlements and the taking over 240 hostages. The radicals described their attack as a response to the actions of the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel declared a total siege of Gaza and began to conduct strikes on the sector as well as certain areas of Lebanon and Syria, after which it launched a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank of the Jordan River.
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 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. According to Israel, as many as 110 hostages were released during the ceasefire period.