Qatar, which mediates between Israel and Hamas, said on Tuesday that the future of Gaza is a Palestinian issue, as Israel insists on the need to eliminate Hamas and fully demilitarize the Palestinian territory.
Whatever happens in the Gaza Strip after the conflict is "a Palestinian issue," Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference.
"The question of who officially represents the Palestinians and which groups should be present in the political sphere" is up to the Palestinians themselves, Al-Ansari said, responding to a question about Israel's desire to eradicate the Palestinian Islamist movement that governs the Gaza Strip.
"It is not up to us or others to answer that question," the spokesman insisted.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said today that negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which should allow the release of all hostages held in Gaza and a definitive end to the war, would begin "this week".
"We demand a complete demilitarization of Gaza. We will not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist group in Gaza," Saar stressed.
US President Donald Trump has proposed taking control of the Palestinian territory and moving its 2.4 million inhabitants to Egypt and Jordan, a plan rejected by Arab countries, which are preparing to propose an alternative plan.
The US plan has heightened tensions over a fragile ceasefire in Gaza that was struck on January 19 after a devastating war triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The first phase of the truce, which ends on March 1, has already resulted in the release of 19 Israeli hostages and 1,134 Palestinians held by Israel, out of a planned total of 33 hostages and 1,900 Palestinians.
It should also allow more humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, which is under siege by Israel. But Hamas accuses the Israelis of blocking the shipment of prefabricated buildings and rubble-clearing equipment to Gaza.
"The aid that is entering the Gaza Strip today is insufficient, even if we multiply what was agreed tenfold. Using humanitarian aid as a card in negotiations is a crime in itself," Majed al-Ansari said.
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