Qatar said Wednesday it expects the U.S.-backed cease-fire in Gaza to remain intact despite what it called a violation, after Israel launched strikes on the blockaded Palestinian enclave, killing civilians.
"Fortunately, I think the main parties – both of them – are acknowledging that the cease-fire should hold and they should stick to the agreement," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the Council on Foreign Relations on a visit to New York.
Israel carried out major strikes after it said one of its soldiers died in enemy fire in Gaza, a claim strongly rejected by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Gaza's civil defense agency said the Israeli strikes killed more than 100 people, including at least 35 children, a toll confirmed by an AFP tally of medical sources at five hospitals in Gaza.
"That's basically a violation by the Palestinian party," al-Thani said, while noting that Hamas has said it was not communicating with the group that carried out the attack.
"Yesterday's event was honestly something that is very disappointing and frustrating for us to see," al-Thani said.
"We are trying to contain it and we mobilized right away after this in full coordination with the United States. And we have seen that the U.S. also is committed to the deal, so the cease-fire still holds as of now."
Qatar, where Hamas leaders have lived, has been the key diplomatic go-between since Israel launched its devastating attacks in response to the cross-border incursion by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
Last month, Israel carried out a strike inside Qatar aimed at Hamas leaders discussing a cease-fire proposal, triggering a rare rebuke of Israel by U.S. President Donald Trump, who then pressed harder for a Gaza cease-fire.
Al-Thani called the attack – in which a Qatari security guard became the first citizen of a Gulf Arab monarchy killed by an Israeli airstrike – not only "a shock but a game-changer for all the region."
"I think that the attack itself has shown the U.S. that there are all the red lines being crossed in the region," he said.
