Hopes of Hamas-Israel ceasefire in Gaza narrowing, says Qatar’s prime minister

Battles raged across Gaza on Sunday as Israel indicated it was prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat Hamas, and a key mediator said willingness to discuss a ceasefire was fading.

Qatar’s prime minister said Doha will continue to pressure Israel and Hamas for a truce despite “narrowing” chances of a deal that would free more hostages.

Israel has faced criticism over its military offensiv which has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians. About 90 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where UN agencies say there is no safe place to flee.

The US has lent vital support in recent days by vetoing a United Nations Security Council effort to end the fighting and pushing through an emergency sale of over $100 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel.

Israel’s air and ground war has killed thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians, since the 7 October attack by Hamas killed 1,200 people with around 240 taken hostage. Over 100 of them were released during a weeklong cease-fire late last month.

Palestinians face severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods.

“Expect public order to completely break down soon, and an even worse situation could unfold including epidemic diseases and increased pressure for mass displacement into Egypt,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a forum in Qatar, a key intermediary.

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, told the forum that mediation efforts will continue to stop the war and have all hostages released, but “unfortunately, we are not seeing the same willingness that we had seen in the weeks before.”

Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, called allegations of mass displacement from Gaza “outrageous and false.”

Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Israel’s Channel 12 TV that the US has set no deadline for Israel to achieve its goals. “The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months,” he said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN that as far as the duration and the conduct of the fighting, “these are decisions for Israel to make.” He added to ABC: “When it comes to a cease-fire in this moment, with Hamas still alive, still intact … that would simply perpetuate the problem.”

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, asserted to the Qatar forum, warned that “Israel has created an amount of hatred that will haunt this region that will define generations to come.”

Israeli forces face heavy resistance, including in northern Gaza, where neighbourhoods have been flattened by air strikes and where ground troops have operated for over six weeks.

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Israel’s Channel 13 TV broadcast footage showing dozens of detainees stripped to their underwear, hands in the air. Several held assault rifles above their heads, and one man walked forward and placed a gun on the ground.

Other videos have shown groups of unarmed men held in similar conditions, without clothes, bound and blindfolded. Detainees from a group who were released Saturday told The Associated Press they had been beaten and denied food and water.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the arrests took place in two Hamas strongholds, Jabaliya and Shijaiyah, and that people are undressed to make sure they are not hiding explosives. Those believed to be Hamas members are taken away for investigation, while others are told to head south.

“We have arrested dozens of terrorists,” Hagari asserted.

Residents said there was still heavy fighting in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyah and the Jabaliya refugee camp, a dense urban area housing Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation.

“They are attacking anything that moves,” said Hamza Abu Fatouh, a Shijaiyah resident. He said the dead and wounded were left in the streets as ambulances could no longer reach the area, where Israeli snipers and tanks positioned themselves among abandoned buildings.

“The resistance also fights back,” he added.