Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks ‘not really promising’, Qatar PM says, US likely to veto UN resolution
- Time is ‘not in our favour’, said Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, a key mediator in the Gaza truce negotiations
- Failure to reach a deal could lead to a wider escalation in the region, he warned
Prospects for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire dimmed on Sunday after the United States signalled it would veto the latest push for a UN Security Council resolution and mediator Qatar acknowledged that truce talks on the other diplomatic front have hit an impasse.
Meanwhile, talks between Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza were “not really very promising” in recent days, the prime minister of Qatar, a key mediator for the negotiations, said on Saturday.
“I believe that we can see a deal happening very soon,” Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at the Munich Security Conference.
“Yet the pattern in the last few days is not really very promising. We will always remain optimistic, we will always remain pushing,” he added, speaking in English.
“Time is not in our favour”, he said, casting forward to the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on March 10.
Al-Thani did not disclose many details about the highly sensitive talks.