Gaza ceasefire is just a pause, says Qatar Prime Minister

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, PM of Qatar. PIC/PTI

Qatar's prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Saturday said the Gaza ceasefire has reached a "critical moment" as its first phase, which took effect on October 10, winds down.

"What we have just done is a pause," he told the Doha Forum, an international conference in the Qatari capital. "We cannot consider it a ceasefire yet. A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today," he said.

While the ceasefire halted the heavy fighting of the two-year war, Gaza health officials say that over 360 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took effect in October. In new violence, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike northwest of Gaza City, Shifa Hospital said. Israel's army said it wasn't aware of an airstrike in that location.

However, it said that Israeli soldiers on Saturday killed three militants who crossed the "yellow line" into the Israeli-controlled northern part of Gaza and "posed an immediate threat." Since the ceasefire, the Israeli army says it has carried out a number of attacks on Palestinians crossing the ceasefire lines.

The next phase, which includes the deployment of an international security force in Gaza, formation of a new technocratic government for the territory, disarmament of Hamas and an eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has not yet begun.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever