Gaza talks at 'critical' moment, says Qatari prime minister

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday that negotiations on the war in Gaza were at a "critical" moment.

Mediators are working together to force the next phase of ceasefire forward, he said during a panel at the Doha Forum conference in Qatar. 

The nearly two-month-old ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will not be complete until Israeli troops withdraw from the Palestinian territory under a peace plan backed by Washington and the UN, Qatar's prime minister said.

"Now we are at the critical moment... We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire, 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 in the Gulf state's capital.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that negotiations over the Gaza stabilisation force remain ongoing, including its mandate and rules of engagement, and that its main objective should be to separate Israelis and Palestinians along the border.

 Agencies