DOHA: Qatar’s prime minister on Tuesday said Israel’s military offensive in Gaza had undermined peace efforts after the release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander and amid expanded operations in the Palestinian territory.
“When Israeli American soldier Aidan Alexander was released, we thought that moment would open a door to end this tragedy, but the response was a more violent wave of strikes,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
“This irresponsible, aggressive behaviour undermines any potential chance for peace,” he said at the Qatar Economic Forum.
The comments come a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would “take control” of the whole of Gaza, as the military pressed a newly intensified campaign in the war-ravaged territory.
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Qatar has been a key mediator in the Gaza war, alongside Egypt and the United States.
Sheikh Mohammed said that in the past couple of weeks, negotiations in Doha “didn’t lead us anywhere yet, because there is a fundamental gap between the two parties”.
“One party is looking for a partial deal that might… lead to a comprehensive deal, and the other party is looking just for a one-off deal… and to end the war and to get all the hostages out,” he said.
“We couldn’t bridge this fundamental gap” he added.
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