Qatar calls on world to compel Israel to allow aid into Gaza
Qatar has strongly condemned Israel’s decision to block the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In a statement, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the move a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, international humanitarian law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and all religious laws.
It also expressed its unequivocal rejection of using food as a weapon of war and starving civilians.
The ministry called on the international community to compel Israel to ensure the safe, sustainable, and unobstructed entry of humanitarian aid to all areas of Gaza.
EU slams Hamas’s refusal to accept truce extension, Israel aid block
The bloc has condemned what it called Hamas’s rejection of the extension of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, adding Israel’s subsequent aid blockade “risked humanitarian consequences”.
“The EU calls for a rapid resumption of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire, and expresses its strong support to the mediators,” Anouar El Anouni, the spokesperson for EU foreign affairs and security policy, said in a statement.
“A permanent ceasefire would contribute to the release of all remaining Israeli hostages while ensuring the necessary conditions for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza to begin,” El Anouni said, adding: “All parties have a political responsibility to make this a reality.”
Are you going to slam Ukraine too for not accepting US / Russia's 'truce' conditions?
‘Witkoff plan’ for ceasefire appears to be the Netanyahu plan
Matt Duss, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that he had “very good reason to disbelieve” what Netanyahu had said about US support for Israel’s unilateral decision to not proceed to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Netanyahu had called the proposal for the extension of the first phase of the deal the “Witkoff plan”, in reference to the US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, but Duss said that “as far as I’ve been able to tell, this is in fact the Netanyahu plan”.
Duss said that it was uncertain how much support Netanyahu had from Trump, but that if the US administration was backing Israel in reneging on the terms of the ceasefire deal, it would be a continuation of US policy under Trump’s predecessor President Joe Biden, where US officials would insist that Hamas was the party not agreeing to a ceasefire, even when the opposite was true.
“I very much hope that Netanyahu is not telling the truth, because the terms of the deal are that phase one would continue as negotiations for phase two are worked out,” Duss said, before adding that Witkoff’s next moves would shed more light on the US position.
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