Qatar Affirms The Future Of Gaza Strip Determined By Palestine

JAKARTA - Qatar, one of the mediators of the conflict between the militant group led by Hamas and the Israeli army, said Gaza's future after the war had to be decided by the Palestinians, not outsiders.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference in Doha the matter was "a Palestinian issue," after Israel insisted on eliminating Hamas and the United States proposing to take over the region.

"From our point of view, this is a Palestinian issue of what happened after this conflict," al-Ansari said when asked about Israel's apparent purpose to get rid of Hamas, as reported by Al Arabiya News on February 18.

"This is a Palestinian issue of who represents Palestine in its official capacity as well as political groups and parties in the political field," he said.

The first phase of the ongoing ceasefire, which will end on March 1, has so far released 19 Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians detained by Israelis.

Other hostage-detained exchanges are expected to take place before the end of the first phase, which has also allowed humanitarian aid to enter the trapped Gaza.

Al-Ansari added, "the assistance entering the Gaza Strip today is not sufficient."

"Using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip in negotiations is a crime in itself."