Senior representatives from Turkey, Egypt and Qatar met on Tuesday to review the status of the Gaza ceasefire and discuss steps to strengthen its implementation, Egypt’s Al-Qahera News reported.
The meeting brought together Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Chairman İbrahim Kalın, Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. According to the report, the talks focused on advancing the second phase of the ceasefire arrangement and removing barriers slowing its progress.
Turkey, a NATO member and one of Israel’s strongest critics, has called the country’s two-year assault on Gaza a “genocide,” a charge Israel denies. Along with United States, Egypt and Qatar, Ankara has played a mediating role in the ceasefire, in effect since October 10, and has vowed to help oversee its implementation.
While the ceasefire has led to a significant drop in Israeli strikes, it has not fully stopped them.
The three officials also agreed to expand coordination with Israel’s Civil-Military Coordination Center, the body responsible for overseeing the truce, and examined measures aimed at reducing violations and stabilizing the ceasefire, the news outlet said.
The discussions followed Rashad’s meeting on Sunday with a Hamas delegation in Cairo. Hamas reaffirmed its adherence to the first phase of the agreement but urged the establishment of a mediator-led monitoring mechanism to document and address Israeli violations, according to the report.
Gaza’s health authorities said Tuesday that at least 345 Palestinians have been killed and 889 wounded since October 11, raising the death toll from Israeli attacks since October 2023 to 69,775, with 170,965 others injured.