Qatar, Egypt and the US have been key mediators in negotiations between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza.
Qatar and Egypt, key players in the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, have questioned the future of the negotiations following the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.
Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in what the Palestinian group described as “a treacherous Zionist attack on his residence”.
“Political assassinations and continued attacks on civilians in Gaza as negotiations continue lead us to ask: how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the other side’s negotiator?” Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani wrote in X.
“Peace needs serious partners and a global stance against disrespect for human life.”
The political assassinations and continued attacks on civilians in Gaza as negotiations continue lead us to ask: how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the other side’s negotiator? Peace needs serious partners and a global stance against disrespect for human life.
— محمد بن عبدالرحمن (@MBA_AlThani_) July 31, 2024
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said a “dangerous Israeli policy of escalation” over the past two days had undermined efforts to broker an end to fighting in Gaza, where nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October last year. .
“The coincidence of this regional escalation with the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations in Gaza increases the complexity of the situation and indicates the absence of Israeli political will to calm it,” said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“This undermines the energetic efforts made by Egypt and its partners to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and put an end to the human suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Qatar, Egypt and the US have repeatedly tried to reach a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. But a final agreement to end the war and release captives held in Gaza, as well as Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, has been complicated and there were no signs of progress at the latest round of talks in Rome on Sunday.
Nour Odeh, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that it would be very difficult for ceasefire negotiations to have any traction at this point.
“There might not be a dramatic change in the dynamics on the ground in Gaza with regards to the fighting, but certainly the prospects for an urgently needed ceasefire… are further away than ever,” she said.
In Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Palestinians mourning Haniyeh’s murder shared similar sentiments.
“This man [Haniyeh] could have signed the prisoner exchange agreement with the Israelis,” Saleh al-Shanar, who was displaced from his home in northern Gaza, told the Associated Press.
“Why did they kill him? They killed peace, not Ismail Haniyeh.”
Nour Abu Salam, a displaced woman, said the killing shows that Israel does not want to end the war and establish peace in the region. “By murdering Haniyeh, they are destroying everything,” she said.
“The ceasefire in Gaza is essential”
Following the assassination of the Hamas leader, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a ceasefire in Gaza is essential to prevent the conflict from spreading to the rest of the region.
“We have been working since day one not only to try to get to a better place in Gaza, but also to prevent the conflict from spreading, whether in the North with Lebanon and Hezbollah, whether in the Red Sea with the Houthis, or in the North with Lebanon and Hezbollah, whether it’s in the Red Sea with the Houthis, whether it’s Iran, Syria, Iraq, you name it,” Blinken said at a forum in Singapore.
“A big key to trying to make sure that doesn’t happen and that we can move forward to a better place is to get a ceasefire.”
According to US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Blinken spoke with the Qatari prime minister and emphasized “the importance of continuing to work towards a ceasefire.”
However, Israeli authorities, who have not yet commented on Haniyeh’s assassination, have stated that ceasefire negotiations will continue.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s office said Wednesday that he emphasized the importance of continuing to work to reach an agreement to release the remaining 115 Israeli and foreign captives in a phone call with his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin. .
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told reporters in an online briefing that Israel remained committed to the negotiations.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
