Qatar will host Palestinian prisoners if they choose to come, PM says

Qatar is prepared to host released Palestinian prisoners if they choose to come, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said on Sunday.

There is no clear plan for when negotiations between Israel and Hamas for the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire would begin, he added.

In a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Doha, Al Thani said Qatar was engaging with Israel and Hamas to prepare for the talks. He added that his country was hoping to see some movement in the “next few days.”

According to the ceasefire agreement, negotiations on implementing the second phase of the deal should begin before the 16th day of phase one of the ceasefire, which is Monday. This stage is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

His welcoming sentiment to released Palestinian prisoners is not the first of its kind in recent weeks. Turkey was expected to welcome a number of released prisoners, and at least 70 have already been deported to Egypt last week.

Wasted time on ceasefire deal

Last month, Al Thani stated that the approved deal followed the same framework as the one agreed upon in December 2023, only two months into the war.

This current deal was “basically 13 months of a waste of negotiating the details that have no meaning and are not worth a single life that we lost in Gaza or a single life of the hostages lost because of the bombing.”

He called the deal the “last chance to save Gaza” and emphasized that “peace won’t happen” if there is not a Palestinian state.

“We are aiming for a Palestinian state and an Israeli state living side-by-side, peacefully,” he told Sky News.

Reuters, Yuval Barnea contributed to this report.