Today's Edition
DOHA (AFP)
Qatar and Egypt, guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, called on Saturday for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force as the necessary next steps in fully implementing the agreement.
The measures were spelt out in the US- and UN-backed peace plan that has largely halted fighting, though the warring parties have yet to agree on how to move forward from the deal's first phase.
Its initial steps saw Israeli troops pull back behind a so-called "yellow line" within Gaza's borders, while Hamas released the living hostages it still held and handed over the remains of all but one of the deceased.
"Now we are at the critical moment... A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces (and) there is stability back in Gaza," Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference.
Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, helped secure the long-elusive truce.
Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar and the other truce guarantors were "getting together in order to force the way forward for the next phase" of the deal.
"And this next phase is just also temporary from our perspective," he said, calling for a "lasting solution that provides justice for both people".
