Qatar: Gaza Ceasefire at a 'Critical Moment' as Second Phase Stalls

Gaza Truce Reaches a ‘Critical Moment,’ Qatar Says

DOHA, Qatar — Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, warned at the Doha Forum that the Gaza ceasefire has reached a “critical moment” as its first phase winds down, with militants still holding the remains of one Israeli hostage. He said international mediators, led by the United States, are pushing to move to a second phase that would cement the deal.

“What we have just done is a pause,” Sheikh Mohammed told forum attendees. “We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire.”

He added that a full ceasefire requires more than a pause: “A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today.”

Violence Continues Despite Truce

Although the first phase halted the heavy fighting that marked much of the past two years, Gaza health officials say more than 360 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took effect in October. In fresh violence, Shifa Hospital reported two Palestinians killed in an airstrike northwest of Gaza City. Israel’s military said it had no record of a strike at that precise location but reported that troops killed three militants who crossed the “yellow line” into Israeli-controlled areas and "posed an immediate threat." The army also says it has carried out several strikes on people crossing ceasefire lines since the truce began.

Second Phase Still Pending

The first phase of a U.S.-backed 20-point plan took effect Oct. 10, bringing an end to active fighting and enabling exchanges that freed dozens of hostages from Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinians released from Israeli prisons. Israel sent a delegation to Egypt last week as part of negotiations over the return of the remains of the final hostage.

The proposed second phase — which has not yet begun — envisions deployment of an international security force in Gaza, formation of a technocratic interim government, the disarmament of Hamas and an eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces. Arab and Western officials told The Associated Press that an international body to oversee the ceasefire, expected to include U.S. leadership, could be appointed by year-end. The broader plan also contemplates a possible pathway toward Palestinian independence.

Regional Concerns and UNRWA’s Role

Sheikh Mohammed stressed that any transitional measures should be temporary and that durable peace requires addressing the wider conflict and the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state: “If we are just resolving what happened in Gaza ... it’s not enough. There is a root for this conflict,” he said.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, told the forum there are major unanswered questions about the international security force: which countries would participate, what the command structure would be and what its initial mandate would look like. Turkey is listed among the ceasefire guarantors, but Israel has rejected Turkish participation amid strained bilateral ties.

Separately, UNRWA — the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees — warned that its future role in Gaza is uncertain. Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA’s director of external relations and communications, said the agency continues to provide humanitarian and educational services across Gaza but has been excluded from U.S.-led talks on the second phase. She described UNRWA as the de facto public sector in Gaza with roughly 12,000 employees and warned that the agency’s services would be difficult for others to replicate.

Although the U.N. General Assembly renewed UNRWA’s mandate through 2029, the agency faces a severe funding shortfall after the United States, previously its largest donor, halted funding in early 2024. “Votes are great. Cash is better,” Alrifai said.

Background

The conflict escalated on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. Israel’s subsequent offensive has, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, killed over 70,000 Palestinians. The Gaza health ministry — part of the Hamas-run administration — does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll; it reports that nearly half of the dead have been women and children. Those figures are cited by the U.N. and other international bodies. Israel says Hamas has used civilians as human shields.

Reporting note: Casualty figures are provided by Gaza’s Health Ministry; numbers and classifications differ among parties and international monitors.