Qatar: Israel ‘shouldn’t obstruct’ move to next phase of Gaza deal over 2 remaining hostage bodies

A spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry says that Israel should not be able to delay the move to the next stage of the ceasefire plan on the grounds that the bodies of two hostages are still held in Gaza.

In an interview with an Al-Araby Al-Jadeed podcast, Majed al-Ansari says the fact that the two remaining bodies is potentially delaying the next phase of the deal “is the most important” thing to be dealt with right now.

“We don’t believe Israel should be allowed to obstruct the implementation of the agreement over these two bodies. At the same time, of course, the Palestinian side is working to retrieve the bodies and preempt any Israeli pretexts,” he says.

“The current endeavor for Qatar and its partners in the region is to move from the first phase to the second [of the plan], and thus achieve a sustainable peace that can comprehensively end the state of war in the Gaza Strip,” he says. “There are significant challenges in reaching this stage of truce, but the focus now is on maintaining it long enough to reach a political solution in which all parties in the region, along with the international community and the United States, work together to make this plan a success and end the war.”

Ansari additionally says that any potential normalization between Doha and Israel will only occur within the framework of a solution to the Palestinian issue.

Two deceased hostages abducted on October 7, 2023, remain in Gaza: police officer Ran Gvili, killed fending off the Hamas invasion at Kibbutz Alumim; and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, who was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri, where he worked in agriculture.

Yesterday, Ran’s father, Itzik Gvili, addressed the weekly rally in Tel Aviv, saying that there must “no next phase” to the current Gaza ceasefire, and “no ‘day after’ in Gaza,” until Hamas returns the last two bodies.

The first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan formed the basis of Israel and Hamas’s October 9 truce-hostage deal.

In the next stage of the plan, Israel is meant to withdraw further from the Yellow Line, alongside the establishment of a transitional authority to govern Gaza, the deployment of a multinational security force meant to take over from the Israeli military, the disarmament of Hamas, and the start of reconstruction.

In addition to still holding two bodies, Hamas has so far refused to agree on the matter of demilitarization. Israel insists the Strip must be demilitarized before Trump’s plan can advance.