Blinken, Qatar PM warn all sides not to ‘undermine’ Gaza truce talks
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. The two said “no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qatar’s prime minister on Aug 14 warned all sides not to undermine Gaza ceasefire talks set to open in the Gulf nation, in a veiled warning to Iran, Hamas and Israel.
Mr Blinken and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in a telephone call stated that “no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal”, a US State Department statement said.
The two discussed “efforts to calm tensions in the region and the importance of finalising a ceasefire in Gaza”, it said.
Qatar is set to host Gaza ceasefire talks on Aug 15, seeking a so-far elusive agreement that the United States hopes will stop Iran striking Israel and avert a wider war.
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have invited Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas for negotiations aimed at ending fighting that the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says has killed nearly 40,000 people in the Palestinian territory.
The talks will be held in Qatari capital Doha, a source close to Hamas and a second source close to the negotiations said on Aug 14. According to a US source familiar with the Doha meeting, Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns is scheduled to take part.
Israel has confirmed that it will attend, though it remains unclear whether Hamas, whose Oct 7 attack on Israel triggered the war, plans to participate.
Mr Blinken, the US’ top diplomat, spoke on Aug 14 with his Egyptian counterpart. In recent days, he has also consulted Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, along with Israel.
US President Joe Biden last week joined the leaders of Egypt and Qatar in publicly urging the talks to start on Aug 15 on halting the 10-month conflict.
The initiative came after Mr Biden was frustrated by a presumed Israeli attack in Iran that killed Hamas’ political leader
The Biden administration has also voiced outrage over actions of far-right Israeli ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who defiantly led prayers on Aug 13 at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
Mediation efforts have repeatedly stalled since a week-long ceasefire in November 2023 – the only pause so far in the war – when dozens of hostages were released by militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
A Hamas official said the Islamist movement is “continuing its consultations with the mediators”, after demanding the implementation of a proposal that Mr Biden laid out on May 31, instead of holding more talks.
The phased plan would start with an initial six-week “complete ceasefire”, the release of some hostages held in Gaza and a “surge” in humanitarian aid entering the besieged territory as the warring sides negotiate “a permanent end to hostilities”, Mr Biden said at the time. AFP
