Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Doha for talks on securing a ceasefire in Gaza with the Qatari emir, whose nation has been on the coronary heart of mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas.
The official Palestinian information company Wafa mentioned Abbas would meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, however didn’t say if he would additionally meet leaders of Hamas, a bunch that has lengthy been at odds with Abbas and his West Financial institution-based Fatah group.
The Palestinian ambassador to Qatar, Munir Ghannam, advised Voice of Palestine radio on Sunday that Abbas and the emir would talk about efforts to safe a Gaza ceasefire with Israel and methods to extend support for the territory’s 2.three million individuals.
“Qatar performs an necessary position within the worldwide efforts and mediation to achieve a ceasefire. Due to this fact, coordination with Qatar, additionally with Egypt, is of particular significance, to deliver an finish to this aggression in opposition to our individuals,” Ghannam mentioned.
Qatar hosts the pinnacle of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in addition to one other senior chief within the group, Khaled Meshaal, who handles diaspora affairs within the Hamas political workplace.
The go to comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu guarantees to advance plans for a floor offensive on Rafah, regardless of rising worldwide alarm on the potential penalties for the 1.four million Palestinian civilians crammed within the metropolis in southern Gaza.
America, Israel’s key worldwide ally, has warned that an assault on Rafah might be a “catastrophe” and United Nations Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres warned that Palestinian civilians within the metropolis had “nowhere to go”.
Egypt warned of “dire penalties” of a possible Israeli navy assault on the south Gaza metropolis of Rafah close to its border.
“Egypt referred to as for the need of uniting all worldwide and regional efforts to stop the focusing on of the Palestinian metropolis of Rafah,” its international ministry mentioned in a press release.
Mohammed Nazzal, a senior Hamas determine, advised Al Jazeera that Netanyahu “needs the warfare to proceed to remain in energy, and doesn’t wish to lose his right-wing coalition”.
“He needs to maintain the preventing occurring till the US elections in November for [Donald] Trump to win,” Nazzal mentioned.
Israel started its assault on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas fighters carried out a shock assault on southern Israel, killing at the least 1,139 individuals and seizing round 240 others as hostages, in line with Israeli officers.
After the assault, Israel launched a devastating bombardment and a floor invasion that has decreased a lot of Gaza to rubble and killed greater than 28,100 individuals, in line with Palestinian authorities.
Talks for a deal on a ceasefire and the discharge of hostages have thus far did not deliver an settlement. Final week, Israel rejected a Hamas proposal, saying it will not cease preventing whereas the group retained brigades that Israel says are hiding in Rafah.
Final Thursday, a Hamas delegation was in Cairo and left the following day after speaking to Egyptian and Qatari officers for ceasefire talks.
Whereas Gaza has been ruled by Hamas since 2007, areas of the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution are ruled by the Palestinian Authority, led by Fatah.
Abbas’s authority has largely been decreased to the West Financial institution, which is bigger than Gaza however which can also be fractured by Israeli settlements.
Previous makes an attempt, primarily led by Egypt, to resolve disputes between Hamas and Fatah have thus far failed to finish the rifts, which analysts say weakens Palestinian efforts to safe a state of their very own on land now occupied by Israel.
In the meantime, Israeli officers blame the PA for failing to regulate factions together with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad motion, which have referred to as on Israel to take away the blockade of the enclave and finish its occupation of Palestinian territories.
Successive Israeli governments have expanded settler enlargement within the occupied Palestinian territories in violation of worldwide legislation.
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