Gaza ceasefire talks have reached a deadlock over Israeli operations in Rafah, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Tuesday.
Israel’s operations in Rafah, which began this month, have closed the main entrance for humanitarian aid from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. Humanitarian organizations warn that this has worsened the already dire situation in the Palestinian enclave.
“Especially in recent weeks, we have seen that momentum is being achieved, but unfortunately things have not moved in the right direction and now we are almost at a standstill. Of course, what happened with Rafah set us back,” Sheikh Mohammed said at the Doha Economic Forum.
The Qatari Prime Minister announced that Doha will continue to work to find a solution for peace in Gaza. His country mediates between the Palestinian militant movement Hamas and Israel.
Sheikh Mohammed said that the main disagreement between the two sides is the release of the hostages and the cessation of fighting.
“One side wants to stop the conflict and then talk about hostages, and the other side wants hostages and the continuation of the war. Until common ground is found between those two positions, we will not reach a solution,” said the Qatari leader.
