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What Qatar said on Israel-Hamas truce expiration: ‘Complicates mediation’
Israel-Hamas War: As the truce expired, the Israeli army said its combat operations had resumed.
Qatar urged swift international action to stop violence in the Gaza Strip after Israel renewed bombardment of the territory at the end of the truce. The Qatari foreign ministry said that continued bombing at the end of the pause "complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, and... calls on the international community to move quickly to stop the violence."
Qatar continued "its condemnation of all forms of targeting civilians, the practice of collective punishment, and attempts to forcibly displace and displace citizens of the besieged Gaza Strip, and its demand for an immediate ceasefire." The country has been engaged in intense negotiations, with support from Egypt and the United States, to repeatedly prolong truce in Gaza which lasted seven days after two extensions.
Read more: Israel drops leaflets urging residents to leave southern Gaza after truce ends
The agreement was designed to be continued if Hamas could release 10 hostages per day but as the truce expired, the Israeli army said its combat operations had resumed after eight more Israeli hostages were freed under the terms of the deal.
Qatar's foreign ministry confirmed negotiations between Israel and Hamas “are continuing with the aim of returning to a pause” as it was "committed, along with its mediation partners, to continuing the efforts that led to the humanitarian pause, and will not hesitate to do everything necessary to return to calm".
During the truce 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners and negotiations between Hamas and other nations led to the release of more than 20 other foreign nationals.
Israel says around 240 hostages were seized when Hamas attacked on October 7 mounting the deadliest attack in the country's history, killing about 1,200 people. In response, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza which has killed more than 15,000 people, thousands of them children. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 29 people had been killed in the first hours after the pause in hostilities ended.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin also said that it was continuing efforts to free Russian nationals being held hostage by Hamas. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that an extension of a week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would have been more appropriate than resumption of fighting.
