A cloud of smoke erupts down the road from an explosion as a man drives an animal-drawn cart loaded with jerrycans in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
DOHA/GAZA — Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure a truce in the Gaza Strip and a release of hostages have stalled amid shadows of the latest rift between Israel and Iran, leading to more uncertainties in the region.
"We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this stalling," Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a news conference with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Wednesday.
Negotiators are trying to "move forward and put an end to the suffering that the people in Gaza are experiencing and returning the hostages", he said.
The Qatari prime minister also said his country is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas after suffering criticism.
"Qatar is in the process of a complete reevaluation of its role," he said.
"There is exploitation and abuse of the Qatari role," he said, adding that Qatar had been the victim of "point-scoring" by "politicians who are trying to conduct election campaigns by slighting the State of Qatar".
Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks to try to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The mediators had hoped to secure a cease-fire before the start of Ramadan, but progress repeatedly faltered without any cessation of hostilities in the Muslim holy month which ended last week.
The conflict began on Oct 7 when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in about 1,170 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's military has waged a retaliatory offensive against Hamas that has killed 33,899 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
Famine tightening grip
Besides, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, or UNRWA, warned that a man-made famine is "tightening its grip "across Gaza.
"Today, an insidious campaign to end UNRWA's operations is underway, with serious implications for international peace and security," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.
The agency provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
"Across Gaza, a man-made famine is tightening its grip," Lazzarini said.
"In the north, infants and young children have begun to die of malnutrition and dehydration. Across the border, food and clean water wait. But the UNRWA is denied permission to deliver this aid and save lives."
Fears have grown of the monthslong conflict in Gaza spilling over into a regional conflict after Iran's first-ever direct attack on its archfoe Israel this weekend.
Iran has characterized the barrage as an act of self-defense following a deadly airstrike on its consulate in Syria, saying it would consider the matter "concluded "unless Israel retaliated.
Brushing off calls for restraint from close allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would decide whether and how to respond to Iran's major air assault.
Israel's allies have been urging Israel to hold back on any response to the attack that could spiral.
The diplomatic pressure came as Iran's president warned that even the "tiniest" invasion of its territory would bring a "massive and harsh "response.
The Security Council vote on the Palestinians' bid to become a full member state of the United Nations is expected to occur Thursday or Friday, diplomats said, as discussions continued.
Several sources had told the Agence France-Presse that the vote would take place on Thursday, but the situation has since changed with some member states asking for a Friday vote.
No firm decision had been taken, according to sources.
Whatever the date, the Palestinian initiative appears doomed to fail due to opposition from the US.
