Qatar PM says Israel, Hamas must show ‘good faith’ for lasting Gaza peace

DAVOS, Switzerland: Qatar´s prime minister said on Tuesday that a lasting peace in Gaza would depend on Israel and Hamas acting in “good faith”, days into a fragile truce in the Palestinian territory mediated by the Gulf state.

“If they are embarking in this in good faith, this will last and hopefully will lead to phase two, will lead to a permanent ceasefire,” Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Earlier Qatar´s foreign ministry spokesman said the Gulf state believed the deal addressed all the major issues at stake in the war.“We are confident in the deal when it comes to the language of the deal, when it comes to the fact that we hashed out all the major issues on the table,” Majed al-Ansari told a press conference, adding that Qatar believed both parties would implement the deal.

“Any breach from either side or a political decision... could obviously lead the deal to collapse,” the spokesman said.Sheikh Mohammed told the Davos audience that Trump´s “whole notion of making America great again is something very important, and we believe that also we want to see the Middle East great again”.

Ansari said Qatar felt assured the Trump administration “was very supportive of this deal”.“Things are going positively... We believe that the next exchange will be smoother,” Ansari said, referring to the second swap due Saturday.

Ansari said the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes and an end to the daily violence “is what fills us with confidence”, as he urged the world not to “take this deal for granted”.Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Tuesday it had launched an operation in the occupied West Bank´s Jenin that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in the area.

The Palestinian health ministry, based in Ramallah, said the operation had killed nine people, just days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip.In a joint statement, the military and the Shin Bet security agency said that, alongside the Israeli Border Police, they had launched an operation dubbed “Iron Wall” in Jenin.

In a statement released shortly after the launch of the operation, Netanyahu said the raid aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in Jenin and was part of a broader strategy to counter Iran “wherever it sends its arms -- in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen” and the West Bank.

Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP the operation was “an invasion of the (refugee) camp”. “It came quickly, Apache helicopters in the sky and Israeli military vehicles everywhere,” he added.