ISTANBUL

Qatar said Tuesday it is working with mediators to launch the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, while advancing efforts to bring Iran back to the negotiating table with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is ongoing, and it is man-made,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a press conference in Doha.

“Humanitarian aid must not be used as a tool of pressure, and the international community must put pressure on the occupying power.”

Israel has refused to reopen the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, a main terminal for aid deliveries, despite the first phase of the ceasefire deal that took effect on Oct. 10.

“Qatar is working with its mediation partners (Türkiye and Egypt) to accelerate reaching the second phase (of the agreement), which would ensure the increased entry of humanitarian aid,” Ansari said.

The Israeli army has killed more than 71,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in a brutal offensive since October 2023 that has left the Gaza Strip in ruins.

Despite a ceasefire that began on Oct. 10, 2025, the Israeli army has continued its attacks, killing 442 Palestinians and wounding over 1,200 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Ansari said efforts are underway to bring Iran back to the negotiating table with Washington over the Iranian nuclear program.

“With regard to Iran, there are intensive contacts in which we are involved, and we are pushing in every possible way for a return to the negotiating table.”