Qatar and Turkiye warned the Gaza ceasefire was at a critical moment, urging rapid movement toward a permanent deal as Israeli violations mount and momentum dissipates.
Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman told the Doha Forum on Saturday that what existed on the ground amounted to merely a pause in hostilities rather than a genuine ceasefire.
He said a true ceasefire could not be completed unless there was a full withdrawal of Israeli forces alongside restored stability and freedom of movement for Palestinians, none of which had materialised.
Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, echoed that message and said senior United States officials needed to intervene in a timely manner, so momentum was not totally lost.
Fidan added that Hamas, the armed Palestinian group which rules over Gaza, had largely fulfilled its obligations on returning captives, with only one captive’s body still in Gaza, while all others and their remains had been handed to Israeli authorities.
Their warnings came as Israel’s war on Gaza continued, with some 600 violations of the ceasefire in the previous seven weeks and at least 360 Palestinians killed since the October 10 ceasefire began, according to Gaza authorities.
Among the dead were at least 70 children, UNICEF reported, saying the ceasefire had to translate into genuine safety for children.
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Norway’s foreign minister called for the rapid formation of an international stabilisation force endorsed by the United Nations Security Council.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty proposed deploying the force along Gaza’s yellow line to verify compliance and warned that winter was approaching as Palestinians lacked shelter following what he described as Israel’s systematic destruction of the territory.
Eight Muslim majority nations, including Egypt and Qatar, issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s plan to open the Rafah border crossing exclusively for Palestinian departures.
They said the one way arrangement breached the United States brokered peace plan and could facilitate permanent displacement by allowing people to leave but not return, while also blocking humanitarian aid.
Saudi Arabia’s minister plenipotentiary Manal Radwan stressed that Gaza was inseparable from the broader Palestinian struggle and warned that without addressing the core of the conflict, cycles of violence would continue.
The second phase of the ceasefire, which included an international stabilisation force, a technocratic Palestinian government, Hamas disarmament, and full Israeli withdrawal, had not yet begun. Gaza authorities said Israel’s war had killed at least 70,125 Palestinians since October 2023.
At the Doha Forum, Qatar’s prime minister said the ceasefire agreement would be incomplete without addressing the situation in the West Bank.
He said Qatar was committed to regional stability and did not aspire to project power through military means but through diplomacy, investment, and strategic partnerships. Qatar worked to resolve conflicts through mediation and kept channels open because without such openness no dispute could be meaningfully resolved.
He said all progress since 2013 had stemmed from engagement with every stakeholder. The premier underscored the need to address the root causes of the Israeli Palestinian conflict and said mediators were working on the second phase of the agreement, calling the moment decisive.
He added that Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, and the United States were jointly shaping the trajectory of the next phase.
