Qatar says there's no "formal mediation" yet for Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a news conference in Doha that it’s still “too early” for talks between the warring parties.
“I don’t think we can now say that there is a formal mediation track, rather that all channels of communication remain open,” he said.
The Gulf Arab country was one of several US allies to endorse a framework for a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire proposed by the US Wednesday.
“We are optimistic about an international role … but the situation is quite dire on the ground and an escalation is happening at an unprecedented level,” Al Ansari said, adding that Qatar is hopeful that a push from the international community could stop the escalation.
Senior US administration officials asserted that the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire proposal could “open up diplomatic space” and “galvanize” a stalled ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Al Ansari said that there is no “direct correlation” between talks on potential ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, and that the 21-day Lebanon truce was proposed by the US and its allies. Qatar, along with Egypt and the US, is mediating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel.
“There is a track now for Lebanon that is working more urgently, with several parties involved, with the aim of stopping the war immediately. And then there’s the track on Gaza,” he said.
“However, that does not mean that there are tracks working (together) to reach de-escalation in both these case(s),” he added.
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