CAIRO / ISTANBUL

Qatar said Tuesday that mediators are working to advance to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

“Mediation efforts are ongoing to ensure that the current ceasefire does not collapse amid (Israeli) violations of the agreement that are causing concern,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a press conference in Doha.

“Every violation of the ceasefire in Gaza represents a threat to the deal and weakens its impact,” he warned.

“The ceasefire is in place and we are building on it, and we are working to turn it into a path that leads to the second phase of the agreement.”

Israel ties the start of negotiations for launching the second phase of the ceasefire agreement on receiving the bodies of all its captives. It claims that the remains of two Israeli captives are still in Gaza, while Hamas says it has handed over all 20 Israeli captives who were alive and the remains of all 28 who were killed.

Meanwhile, there are 9,500 missing Palestinians killed by the Israeli army whose bodies remain under the rubble, according to Gaza’s Media Office.

The ceasefire deal took effect in Gaza on Oct. 10 under Trump’s Gaza plan, halting two years of Israeli attacks that have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others since October 2023.

Israel has repeatedly violated the agreement by opening fire on Palestinian civilians in areas it does not control under the deal, while Hamas has announced its full commitment to the terms of the agreement and urged the US to pressure Israel to comply.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 357 Palestinians have been killed and more than 900 others injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire.