From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Qatar formally announces successful mediation of deal to provide medicine to hostages
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Qatar formally announces its successful mediation of an agreement between Israel and Hamas to deliver medication to the hostages in Gaza.
The medications will leave Doha tomorrow aboard two Qatari military aircrafts en route to the coastal city of el-Arish in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. It will then be transferred into the Gaza Strip, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement, adding that France played in a role in the mediation of the deal.
The Qatari statement adds that Doha’s mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas will continue “within the framework of Qatari efforts to bring about an end to the war in Gaza.”
Earlier today, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office revealed Paris’s role in the deal, saying that he had ordered his Foreign Affairs Ministry to draw up a list of medicine for 45 hostages, make the purchase and send it to Qatar.
The medicine arrived in Doha on Saturday.
Israel is overseeing the security aspects of the operation, a French official told The Times of Israel, adding that the International Committee of the Red Cross is involved as well.
If the project succeeds, a joint French-Qatari statement is expected.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday that the medications would be delivered in the coming days but did not offer an exact date.
In exchange for the medicine for the hostages, Israel agreed to expand the amount of medical aid included in the humanitarian assistance entering Gaza each day, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel. The Qatari statement indicates that some of that aid will be included in the shipment being ferried to Egypt tomorrow.
