The two-month-old Gaza cease-fire cannot be considered complete until Israeli forces fully withdraw from the territory under a U.S.- and U.N.-backed peace plan, mediator Qatar’s prime minister said Saturday.
"Now we are at the critical moment... A cease-fire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, (and) there is stability back in Gaza," Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference in the Gulf state's capital.
Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, helped secure the long-elusive truce in Gaza, which came into effect on Oct. 10 and has mostly halted two years of Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians.
Under a second phase of the deal, which has yet to begin, Israel is to withdraw from its positions in the territory, an interim authority is to take over governance, and an international stabilization force (ISF) is to be deployed.
Arab and Muslim nations have been hesitant to participate in the new stabilization force, which could end up fighting Palestinian militants.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, also speaking at the forum, said talks on the force were ongoing and critical questions remained as to its command structure and which countries would contribute.
But its first goal, Fidan said, "should be to separate Palestinians from the Israelis".
"This should be our main objective. Then we can address the other remaining issues," he added.
Palestinian group Hamas is also supposed to disarm under the 20-point plan first outlined by U.S. President Donald Trump, with members who decommission their weapons allowed to leave Gaza. The group has repeatedly rejected the proposition.
Türkiye has indicated it wants to take part in the stabilisation force, but its efforts are viewed unfavourably in Israel, which considers Ankara too close to Hamas.
"I think the only viable way to finish this war is to engage faithfully and forcefully in peace talks," Fidan said.
Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar and fellow truce guarantors Türkiye, Egypt and the UçSç were "getting together in order to force the way forward for the next phase" of the deal.
"And this next phase is just also temporary from our perspective," he said.
"If we are... just resolving what happened in the last two years, it's not enough," he continued, calling for a "lasting solution that provides justice for both people".
