During a phone conversation, the two officials discussed the developments in the Gaza Strip, “especially the joint mediation efforts to end the war on the grip,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Guterres voiced his appreciation for Qatar’s continuous efforts “aimed at a just, comprehensive, and sustainable solution to the Palestine issue,” it added, according to Xinhua.

Qatar, the United States, and Egypt mediated a week-long truce between the Israeli regime and Hamas that ended in late November 2023. However, subsequent mediation efforts over the past few months have not yielded ideal results.

A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations took place in Doha on Thursday and Friday, following which the three mediators issued a joint statement announcing that the talks have made “constructive” progress and that relevant parties would continue their efforts in the coming days to negotiate the details of the deal’s implementation.

Meanwhile, Hamas blamed Israel for adding new conditions to a previously supported proposal, and blamed the US administration for trying to create a “false positive atmosphere,” expressing skepticism about the negotiations’ outcome. 

SD/