The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has said that Qatar will always support the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause.

In an exclusive interview with CBS News yesterday he said, “Our focus right now is how to end this war, how to ensure that this is not repeated. And the only way to ensure that this is not repeated is to resolve it peacefully, to have a political solution and provide the Palestinian people with a political horizon for a state. And the day after who will govern Gaza – Gaza and West Bank should be one unit, one country under one leadership that will be chosen by the Palestinian people.”

He further added that he is hopeful for an extension of the truce.

“Actually we are hopeful according to the agreement. The agreement has a provision that if Hamas are able to prove, locate, and secure some of the hostages that are within the criteria of the first group, which are women and children, then it will be extended depending on the number that they will have. This is something we cannot confirm yet until we get to the fourth day, then Hamas should present the list if they are available with them.”

He stated that two separate delegations from Qatar have reached Gaza and Israel with the Gaza delegation focusing on purely humanitarian aid and the Israel delegation to monitor the operation of the releases and ensuring that any concerns are addressed as early as possible.

The Prime Minister said that Qatar’s relationship with the US is very solid and the alliance has been established through the decades and the relationship is based on trust and the mutual interest of both countries.

He said discussions are on to release more American hostages.

“We've been working very closely with the U.S. government and we are hoping that we will see the release happening shortly.

“We are hopeful actually there are still some names which are supposed to be in the first group, and until now we didn’t get the confirmation yet, but you know we are working on a daily basis and making sure that every day we have the list of the next day.”

We are hopeful that to have a confirmation of a proof of life of them and hopefully the result at end of the agreement. As I mentioned things are happening on a daily basis and we are focused on today’s operation and hopefully that will happen very shortly from now.” 

Talking about the political office of Hamas in Doha, the Prime Minister said, “This office, when it was established, was done in coordination with the US to establish communication with Hamas. It was not only useful for the US but also for the stability of the region and you know right now we are in the middle of the negotiations. We will always keep the communications open with everyone.”

About the whereabouts of Yahya Sinwar, he said: “Well I don’t think this information is available to anyone except the people who are close to him, and this is information doesn’t relate much to what we are doing right now and on the ongoing negotiations.”

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