Israel urged not to derail ceasefire deal for Gazans

Palestinian militant group Hamas' delay in returning the bodies of the last two slain hostages should not get in the way of moving the United States-brokered ceasefire in Gaza to the second phase, a senior Qatari official said on Sunday.

Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari, adviser to the prime minister of Qatar and spokesman for Qatar's foreign ministry, said in an interview with pan-Arab media outlet The New Arab, published on Sunday, that Israel should not halt the implementation of the Gaza deal over two bodies and that efforts were underway to "cut off any Israeli excuses".

He said that Palestinian teams were continuing the recovery efforts, while urging that the agreement must move forward regardless.

While highlighting that Qatar's mediation has focused on ending the conflict, ensuring humanitarian aid into Gaza and preventing annexation of Palestinian land, he acknowledged major challenges, such as Israel's repeated violations of past and current truces.

But the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an influential hostage advocacy group in Israel, slammed the Qatari official's remarks, reminding the mediators, "primarily Qatar's Foreign Ministry", that the return of the hostages "is the core of this (ceasefire) agreement".

Last month, a widely reported Gaza reconstruction conference, which was supposed to be hosted by Cairo, was postponed after an Egyptian source said the guarantees on halting Gaza's destruction had not been provided, citing Israel's ongoing escalation and repeated violations. Israel has also blamed Hamas for truce violations.

Gaza's death toll has now hit more than 70,000 despite a supposed truce being in place.

Last week, senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye met in Cairo to discuss the Gaza ceasefire implementation and resolving obstacles, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Egypt's Al Qahera News.

On Friday, the United Nations Committee against Torture, while condemning the attacks perpetrated by Hamas and other groups on Oct 7, 2023, also expressed deep concern over the "disproportionate nature of Israel's response to the attacks, which has resulted in a massive loss of human life and profound suffering for the Palestinian people".

Rasha Al Joundy, a senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre, said: "Gaza is in rubble, therefore it could take time to find the last hostages' bodies. At the same time, this does not mean that Palestinian civilians should die every day by Israeli tricks because of this delay, and despite the deal President (Donald) Trump mediated."

Despite the delay, diplomatic efforts to keep the truce in the spotlight continued around the region on Sunday.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa reaffirmed the State of Palestine's authority and sovereignty over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, during a meeting with Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Wafa news agency reported.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon in a long-running corruption trial. Netanyahu is said to have argued that the criminal proceedings were hindering his ability to govern.

jan@chinadailyapac.com