As Israel’s brutal genocide and siege continue in Gaza, Qatar and Egypt have held talks in Cairo to advance ceasefire efforts, aiming to end the war and ease the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi discussed the ongoing efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip.
The discussions took place in Cairo on Monday with the attendance of the Head of Qatar’s State Security, Khalfan Al-Kaabi, and Egypt’s General Intelligence chief, Hassan Rashad.
“I conveyed the greetings of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and we reviewed the cooperative relations between our two brotherly countries[…]and the joint efforts in the mediation file to stop the war in Gaza and end the humanitarian suffering,” Sheikh Mohammed said on X.
The Egyptian presidency’s spokesperson, Mohamed El-Shennawy, separately said both sides stressed the need to reach a deal that results in a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, unhindered entry of aid, and release of Palestinian detainees and Israeli captives.
Sheikh Mohammed and Sisi also expressed their rejection of Israel’s “reoccupation of the Strip and any attempts to displace Palestinians from their land”.
“Views were aligned on the importance of intensifying joint efforts to find political and peaceful solutions to the crises facing a number of countries in the region,” El-Shennawy added.
Qatar and Egypt, alongside the United States, have been at the forefront of mediation efforts since the onset of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
Over the past two years, Israel has killed at least 62,004 people, mainly women and children, with thousands of others still trapped under the rubble.
The mediation efforts led to a one-week truce in November 2023 and a ceasefire in January 2024, which Israel broke on March 18 by refusing to withdraw from Gaza and halting aid entry.
On Monday, Hamas accepted the truce proposal presented by the mediators, entailing a 60-day pause, although Israel has yet to provide its response.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, described Hamas’s response as “positive”.
“What I can tell you is that we have a positive response from Hamas. That positive response, according to what we know, is almost all that was agreed by Israel in previous iterations of these talks,” Al-Ansari told a weekly press briefing in Doha on Tuesday.
Israel continues to block aid
Israel has blocked the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip since March 2, starving the 2.1 million population.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a total of 266 Palestinians, including 112 children, have died as a result of the Israel-induced starvation.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty travelled to the northern Egyptian town of El-Arish on Monday, where he said his country has been working to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in neighbouring Gaza.
His remarks came as Egypt faced growing pressure to open the shared Rafah Crossing with Gaza, although it has repeatedly stressed that the border has been open from its side.
Abdelatty told CNN in an interview during his visit to El-Arish that there are 5,000 trucks on the Egyptian side of the crossing waiting to enter the Gaza Strip.
“The Israelis are not allowing them to enter,” he said.
