A fresh ceasefire effort underway in Gaza

Efforts to reach a fresh ceasefire in Gaza is underway. However an agreement between Hamas and Israel is elusive, said Qatar’s prime minister yesterday.

“We have seen on Thursday a bit of progress compared to other meetings yet we need to find an answer for the ultimate question: how to end this war.

“That’s the key point of the entire negotiations,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister.

Last week Mossad representative met Sheikh Mohammed in Doha.

Sheikh Mohammad said Hamas is willing to return all remaining Israeli hostages if Israel ends the war in Gaza. But Israel wants Hamas to release the remaining hostages without offering a clear vision on ending the war, he said.

“When you don’t have a common objective, a common goal between the parties, I believe the opportunities (to end the war) become very thin,” Sheikh Mohammed said at a press conference in Doha with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Hamas would be more open to an agreement that goes beyond a ceasefire in Gaza and aims for a lasting solution to the crisis with Israel, including a two-state solution, said Fidan.

A Turkish diplomatic source also confirmed Fidan met with senior Hamas officials in Doha to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“The Hamas side stated they continued working for a lasting ceasefire. They conveyed information about the meetings held in the past days,” the source said, adding Fidan had repeated that Turkey would continue international and bilateral efforts for peace in Gaza.

Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on Mar 18 after a January ceasefire collapsed, saying it would keep up pressure on Hamas until it frees the remaining hostages still held in the enclave. Up to 24 of them are believed to still be alive.