Qatar urges rapid international action to stop Gaza violence

DOHA: Qatar on Friday urged swift international action to stop violence in the Gaza Strip after renewed Israeli bombardment of the territory at the end of a truce which the Gulf emirate mediated.

The Qatari foreign ministry, in a statement, said it stresses that continued bombing at the end of the pause “complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, and… calls on the international community to move quickly to stop the violence.”

It added “its condemnation of all forms of targeting civilians, the practice of collective punishment, and attempts to forcibly displace and displace citizens of the besieged Gaza Strip, and its demand for an immediate ceasefire.”

Qatar has been engaged in intense negotiations, with support from Egypt and the United States, to repeatedly prolong a truce in Gaza that had lasted a total of seven days after two extensions.

The agreement was designed to be continued if Hamas could release 10 hostages per day.

But after the truce expired on Friday morning, the Israeli army said its combat operations had resumed.

Late Thursday, eight more Israeli hostages were freed under the terms of the deal.

Qatar’s foreign ministry confirmed negotiations between Israel and Hamas “are continuing with the aim of returning to a pause”. The emirate added it was “committed, along with its mediation partners, to continuing the efforts that led to the humanitarian pause, and will not hesitate to do everything necessary to return to calm”.

During the truce 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Negotiations between Hamas and other nations under a separate framework led to the release of more than 20 other foreign nationals, mostly Thais.

Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza, which the Gaza government says has killed more than 15,000 people, thousands of them children.

The health ministry in Gaza said 29 people had been killed in the first hours after the pause in hostilities ended at 0500 GMT on Friday.