Qatar said Tuesday it is coordinating with mediators to initiate the second phase of the Gaza cease-fire deal while pushing efforts to return Iran and the United States to talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.
"The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is ongoing, and it is man-made,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference in Doha.
"Humanitarian aid must not be used as a tool of pressure, and the international community must put pressure on the occupying power.”
Israel has refused to reopen the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, a main terminal for aid deliveries, despite the first phase of the cease-fire deal that took effect on Oct. 10.
"Qatar is working with its mediation partners (Türkiye and Egypt) to accelerate reaching the second phase (of the agreement), which would ensure the increased entry of humanitarian aid,” Ansari said.
