Qatar has repeatedly called out the unwillingness of one or the other negotiating parties to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has accused parties involved in the Gaza ceasefire talks of taking advantage of the process for political gains.

“We have seen moments in time where the process was being exploited by one party or the other,” Sheikh Mohammed said in the opening panel of Doha Forum 2024, which kicked off on Saturday.

“We did not see the willingness to seek a closure to end what was happening [in Gaza]. That’s why Qatar took a step back.”

Speaking on the panel “Conflict Resolution in a New Era”, Sheikh Mohammed noted that due to the unwillingness of one or the other negotiating parties to reach an agreement, it has been difficult to “raise hopes for innocent people”.

Qatar clarified early in November that it had not pulled out from the negotiations, contrary to media reports. The foreign ministry said that a deadlock between Israel and Hamas had been in place due to the failure to reach a ceasefire and captives exchange deal.

The prime minister, who is also Qatar’s minister of foreign affairs, also said “a lot of countries” that claim to champion humanitarian law and international court are turning a blind eye and carrying a double standard when it comes to the wars in Palestine, Syria and rest of the Middle East.

However, bringing all parties to the negotiation table is in Qatar’s priorities, he went on to say.

“Who is the alternative if Qatar does not engage with all the parties? We need to engage with every party and need to resolve conflicts and ensure better prospects for the region,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

“Qatar is a platform to arrange everyone to the table and make sure that they’re engaging with each other to reach a solution. We are not expected to enforce any solution if they are not willing to engage,” he added.

He added that the incoming Trump administration in the United States has been more receptive to the negotiation talks.

“That has actually made us try to move things back and try to put [the negotiations] back on track,” Sheikh Mohammed said, claiming there have been some communication in the recent weeks after the U.S. presidential elections.

The Qatari Prime Minister was joined by India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide in the panel.

Norway’s Eide stressed on a “long term solution” and the need to establish a Palestinian state.

“The horror is so bad that we cannot go back. It was a minefield, it is just that people did not step on the mine [before October 7] […] the solution has to be integrated within the region,” Eide said.

For his part, Jayshankar said India’s intent has been to sort the issues through diplomacy and not on the battlefield in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.

“The main issue is the conflict in Palestine,” he said. “Now, it is the expansion of that in the region, a bigger issue. All of us, in different ways, need to step forward. There is a need for more vigorous and innovative diplomacy.”