Qatar said that mediation efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire are ongoing “despite the difficult situation.”
“The Qatari, Egyptian, and US mediation is focused on ending the catastrophic war in Gaza,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a news briefing in Doha on Tuesday, without providing specific details.
He said previous mediation efforts “have led to the release of more hostages than what was achieved through military operations.”
The Qatari spokesperson rejected the use of humanitarian aid in Gaza as a bargaining chip.
“Israel’s policy of using aid as a weapon must be stopped,” he said, calling for international pressure to secure access to humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
Nearly 2.4 million people in Gaza live completely dependent on humanitarian aid, according to World Bank data.
Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza’s crossings closed to food, medical, and humanitarian aid, deepening an already humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights, and international reports.
Figures released by Gaza’s government media office showed that at least 57 Palestinians have died of starvation since October 2023.
More than 52,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
