Qatari leader says Gaza ceasefire is at a critical moment

Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians stand amid the destruction left by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza City (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

Qatar’s prime minister has said the Gaza ceasefire has reached a “critical moment” as its first phase winds down, with the remains of just one Israeli hostage still held by militants in Gaza.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told an international conference in the Qatari capital that international mediators, led by the US, are working “to force the way forward” to the second phase to cement the deal.

“What we have just done is a pause,” he told the Doha Forum. “We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire.

“A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today,” he said.

Palestinians walk through the destruction left by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza City (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

While the ceasefire halted the heavy fighting of the two-year war, Gaza health officials say that more than 360 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took effect in October.

In new violence, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike northwest of Gaza City, Shifa Hospital said.

Israel’s army said it was not aware of an airstrike in that location. However, it said that Israeli soldiers on Saturday killed three militants who crossed the “yellow line” into Israeli-controlled northern part of Gaza and “posed an immediate threat”.

Since the ceasefire, the Israeli army says it has carried out a number of attacks on Palestinians crossing the ceasefire lines.

The first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan took effect October 10. The fighting stopped and dozens of hostages held in Gaza were exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prison.

Israel sent a delegation last week to Egypt for talks on returning the remains of the last hostage.

The next phase, which includes the deployment of an international security force in Gaza, formation of a new technocratic government for the territory, disarmament of Hamas and an eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has not yet begun.

Arab and Western officials told The Associated Press on Friday that an international body overseeing the ceasefire, to be led by Mr Trump himself, is expected to be appointed by the end of the year. In the long term, the plan also calls for a possible “pathway” to Palestinian independence.

If we are just resolving what happened in Gaza, the catastrophe that happened in the last two years, it’s not enough

Sheikh Mohammed said that even the upcoming phase should be “temporary” and that peace in the region could only take place with the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state – something that is opposed by Israel’s hardline government.

“If we are just resolving what happened in Gaza, the catastrophe that happened in the last two years, it’s not enough,” he said. “There is a root for this conflict. And this conflict is not only about Gaza.”

He added: “It’s about Gaza. It’s about the West Bank. It’s about the rights of the Palestinians for their state. We are hoping that we can work together with the US administration to achieve this vision at the end of the day.”

Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan said there is a “big question” over the formation of an international security force for Gaza.

Speaking at the same conference, he said it is unclear which countries will be joining the force, what the command structure would look like and what its “first mission” will be.

Turkey is one of the “guarantors” of the ceasefire, but Israel, which has rocky relations with the Ankara government, has rejected any Turkish participation in the force.

“Thousands of details, questions are in place,” Mr Fidan said. “I think once we deploy ISF, the rest will come.”

A memorial site at the spot where Ran Gvili, the last hostage in Gaza, was killed in Kibbutz Alumim in Israel (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Syria’s interim president has accused Israel of fighting “ghosts” and searching for enemies following the war in Gaza.

President Ahmad al-Sharaa told the international conference that since he took power a year ago, he has been sending “positive messages regarding regional peace and stability”.

He said Israel has rejected his overtures, “extrapolating” its conflict with Hamas militants and justifying what he called aggression in the name of security. He promised Syria would not behave in that way.

“We are not concerned in being a country that exports conflict, including to Israel,” he told the Doha Forum.

Mr al-Sharaa, who was once detained by the US for joining al Qaida in Iraq, urged Israel to withdraw its forces from his country and to recommit to a 1974 truce agreement. He called on the international community to put pressure on Israel and expressed hope a formula could be reached to meet “reasonable” security demands.

“There are currently negotiations, and the United States is participating and engaged in those negotiations,” he said.

Since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar Assad in December 2024, Israel has held a slice of southern Syria that was previously a UN-patrolled buffer zone under a 1974 disengagement agreement.

Israel says it seized the 400-square-kilometre (155-square-mile) demilitarised buffer zone in southern Syria in a pre-emptive move to prevent militants from moving into the area after Islamist insurgents toppled Mr Assad.

Donald Trump shakes hands with Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House in November (Syrian Presidency press office via AP)

Israeli troops have regularly carried out operations in villages and towns inside and outside the zone, including raids snatching people it says are suspected militants. At least 13 people were killed in an Israeli operation against suspected militants last month.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump said he was satisfied with Mr al-Sharaa’s performance, and urged Israel not to “interfere” in Syria’s affairs.

The war erupted on October 7 2023, when Hamas-led militants entered Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 people hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says that nearly half the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas government and its numbers are considered reliable by the UN and other international bodies.

Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

A day after an overwhelming international endorsement, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said its future role in Gaza is unclear.

Throughout the war, Israel and the United States have sidelined UNRWA, accusing it co-operating with Hamas, a charge UNRWA denies.

Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA’s director of external relations and communications, said her agency continues to offer humanitarian and educational services in Gaza. But she said UNRWA has been excluded from US-led talks on the second phase of the ceasefire.

Ms Alrifai said that UNRWA serves as the de facto “public sector” in Gaza. And with 12,000 employees, she said it will be nearly impossible for the international community to duplicate the agency’s network of services.

“If you squeeze UNRWA out, what other agency can fill that void?” she said on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar.

The US, formerly the largest donor to UNRWA, halted funding to the agency in early 2024. On Friday, the UN General Assembly renewed UNRWA’s mandate through 2029. But Ms Alrifai said the cash crisis continues.

“Votes are great. Cash is better,” Ms Alrifai said.