DOHA, Qatar: Gaza ceasefire talks remain in their “first phase” after more than a week of talks, even as mediators step up efforts to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas, Qatar said Tuesday.
“Discussions on the framework agreement are still ongoing. Both delegations are present here in Doha, and the mediators are intensifying efforts to reach an agreement,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told reporters.
“The negotiations are still in the first phase, which is specifically about reaching an agreement of principle ahead of negotiations that will begin, God willing, in the next phase,” he said.
But uncertainty loomed over the efforts, which had appeared deadlocked over the weekend, with each side accusing the other of staking out positions that prevented a deal from being reached.
“We cannot say whether an agreement will be reached tomorrow or whether the negotiations will collapse tomorrow,” Ansari said.
Over the weekend, Palestinian sources told AFP that Israel’s proposals for keeping troops in the territory were preventing progress towards a deal.
But the Qatari spokesman insisted: “We believe there is no stalemate,” adding there was no set timeframe for the talks.
Qatar has been mediating indirect negotiations between the warring parties alongside Egypt and the United States.
Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad also met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Egyptian state-linked Al-Qahera News reported, citing unnamed sources.
The meeting was part of a broader push by Cairo to resolve the conflict, following Rashad’s recent engagements with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
Attacks on humanitarian aid sites
The renewed diplomatic push comes amid growing international pressure and worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 875 Palestinians had been killed near aid distribution points in the past six weeks.
Of these, most deaths occurred in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, while 201 people were killed along other aid convoy routes, according to UN spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan.
“The GHF aid model is inherently unsafe and violates standards of humanitarian impartiality,” Al Kheetan said during a press briefing in Geneva.
Meanwhile, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, reported alarming levels of child malnutrition.
Child malnutrition
“One in 10 children screened in our clinics since January 2024 has been diagnosed with malnutrition,” said Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s Director of Communications, speaking via video link from Amman.
“A nurse told us he had only seen such cases in textbooks and documentaries.”
Touma warned that essential supplies—including medicine, nutritional supplements, hygiene items, and fuel—were rapidly running out.
Amid the humanitarian crisis, the Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders on Tuesday, warning civilians in 16 neighbourhoods of Gaza City and Jabalia to “evacuate immediately south towards al-Mawasi.”
Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli army labelled the alert an “urgent warning,” though previous so-called “safe zones” have been repeatedly targeted in Israeli strikes.
Israeli-American genocide scholar Professor Omer Bartov has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians.
Writing in The New York Times, Bartov stated, “My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people … I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognise one when I see one.”
Bartov had earlier elaborated on his views during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
