By Asaye Bankole

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani says the Gaza ceasefire plan unveiled by United States President Donald Trump meets the key goals set by mediators stopping the killing and displacement of Palestinians and urged all sides to seize the “momentum” to bring Israel’s war to an end.

In an interview with Foreign Media aired on Wednesday, Sheikh Mohammed said Doha had passed the plan, already backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to Hamas’s negotiating team and discussed its broad terms.

He acknowledged the plan has “practical and implementation challenges,” but said it tackles the most urgent priority: ending the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip while also opening the door to “opportunities”.

“Everyone agreed on stopping the war, preventing displacement and the full withdrawal of the Israeli army. These are the three main, pivotal matters,” he said. “And the direct responsible party for managing Gaza are the Palestinian people themselves.”

“The main focus is how to protect the people in Gaza,” stressed Sheikh Mohammed.

On Monday, Netanyahu apologised to Qatar for the killing of a Qatari citizen during an unprecedented Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha last month, which drew global condemnation.

Sheikh Mohammed received the apology on Monday in a joint call from Trump and Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House.

‘There are challenges’
The 20-point plan has drawn support from a wide range of Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Turkiye and Indonesia. It stipulates that once agreed, the attacks in Gaza will end immediately and “full aid” will be allowed into the Strip.

Representatives from Turkiye are joining a meeting of the Gaza mediation team in Doha amid the diplomatic movement. “Turkiye now stands as part of the US initiative” and is collaborating closely on it, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a news conference on Tuesday.

The plan states that all Israeli captives would be freed within 72 hours of its acceptance, followed by Israel’s release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas, for its part, would step down from power and demilitarise, with its members granted amnesty.

An international force would be deployed to temporarily oversee security and train local Palestinian police forces, while a technocratic committee of Palestinians would assume interim responsibility for governance.

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