Advisor to the Prime Minister and official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari
Doha, Qatar: Advisor to the Prime Minister and official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari has said that nearly ten days have passed since the response from the Hamas movement approving the Gaza ceasefire proposal without an official response from the Israeli side.
“We appeal to the international parties to exert pressure on Israel to respond to the mediation proposal, because the ball is now in the Israeli court, which does not want to reach an agreement, but we are still waiting for an official response, and Israel must state its reservations on the text presented to it,” Al Ansari said yesterday while addressing weekly media briefing.
He also expressed Qatar’s strong condemnation of the targeting of journalists in Gaza, pointing out that the targeting of more than a hundred journalists could not be a “mistake” but rather an attempt to obscure the facts.
“We call on the international community to exercise more pressure on Israel to stop targeting journalists, ambulance crews, and civilians... whoever kills journalists is either hiding facts or committing crimes they are trying to cover up.”
The official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Qatar and Egypt have been involved in serious mediation since the first day of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip to end the aggression, based on the assumption that the parties are serious about reaching an agreement. “Hamas had previously announced its approval of the new ceasefire proposal, which largely corresponds to previous Israeli demands. However, Israel has not yet provided any official response to the mediators’ proposal.”
To a question about Israeli objection over venue of talks, he said that Qatar and Egypt did not pay attention to the location of the negotiations as much as they focused on the main goal, which is a ceasefire. “Circulating statements about changing the negotiation location are part of political manoeuvres of Israel, while the most important thing remains the Israeli response to the proposal.”
He further said that the mediators are in constant contact with the United States and other parties concerned to push the negotiation process forward.
To a question about some statements by Israeli officials, he said that the statements of withdrawal from the negotiations were unofficial and were issued for internal political considerations in Israel.
He also referred to the continuation of Qatari mediation efforts in regional and international issues, including supporting the peace process in the Republic of Congo.
