DOHA: Qatar is confident that the deal it helped mediate for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas addressed all the major issues at stake in the war, the foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday.
“We are confident in the deal when it comes to the language of the deal, when it comes to the fact that we hashed out all the major issues on the table”, Majed al-Ansari told a press conference, adding that Qatar believes both parties would implement the deal.
“Any breach from either side or a political decision… could obviously lead the deal to collapse,” the spokesman said.
Qatar, with fellow mediators the United States and Egypt, announced last week a deal that came into effect Sunday after 15 months of war in Gaza.
Gazans begin searching for people under rubble on day two of ceasefire
US President Donald Trump, who had claimed credit for the agreement, said he was “not confident” it would hold.
Ansari said Qatar felt assured the Trump administration “was very supportive of this deal”.
“We believe that the administration, through all the communication we are having with them… that they believe in this deal,” the spokesman said.
The first exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians prisoners went ahead on Sunday, but the ceasefire began late after a delay in Hamas’s release of the list of names of hostages slated for release.
“Things are going positively… We believe that the next exchange will be smoother,” Ansari said, referring to the second swap due Saturday.
Under the agreement, the first part of the three-phased deal should last six weeks, with 33 hostages to be returned from Gaza in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians.
The parties are also expected to start discussions for a permanent ceasefire.
Ansari said the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes and an end to the daily violence “is what fills us with confidence”, as he urged the world not to “take this deal for granted”.
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