In the wake of the assassination on Wednesday of Hamas senior officer Ismail Haniyeh, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are pushing to continue the “cease fire” talks regarding the Gaza Strip that began on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.
Blinken called Bin Abdulrahman, who is also Qatar’s Foreign Minister, to continue the discussions.
While Hamas and Iran have both blamed Israel for the death, Tel Aviv has yet to acknowledge or deny any responsibility.
The conversations between Qatari and US officials are reviewing the most recent events in the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as collaborative mediation efforts to halt the fighting in Gaza, the Qatari Ministry said in a release.
There is a serious “need to continue to work towards reaching a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip that will alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people and ensure the release of hostages and prisoners,” the ministry stated.
Earlier Wednesday, bin Abdulrahman had expressed concern about the impact of Haniyeh’s killing on the Gaza cease-fire negotiations.
David Barnea led the group from Israel’s Mossad spy agency during the first round of discussions between Israel and Hamas (via Qatari mediators) that began in Doha on Monday.
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, have failed to reach an agreement on a lasting cease-fire that would allow Israelis and Palestinians to swap prisoners.
At least 39,445 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October, most of them women and children, with over 91,000 wounded, according to Gaza health officials.