Majed al-Ansari, a senior adviser to Qatar's prime minister and a spokesman for the Qatari foreign ministry. (X)
The dispute comes as the first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan continues, centered on returning hostages and locating bodies.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Qatar says the next stage of President Donald Trump’s postwar plan for Gaza should advance despite unresolved cases involving two bodies held in the Strip.
Majed al-Ansari, the spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said in a recent podcast that Doha views the matter as humanitarian but not grounds to interrupt the broader agreement.
“We don’t believe Israel should be allowed to obstruct the implementation of the agreement over these two bodies,” he said, adding that Palestinian factions were searching for the remains “and preempt any Israeli pretexts.”
His comments sparked immediate pushback from relatives of the hostages. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the mediators must anchor every stage of the plan in the commitment to bring all captives home.
The group noted that Hamas has not fulfilled its previous obligations and argued that pressure should focus on the organization holding the bodies.
“We remind the mediators, primarily Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, that the return of the hostages is the core of this agreement,” the Forum said.
That response followed a plea from Itzik Gvili, whose son, St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili, was killed on October 7 and whose body has not been returned.
Speaking at a rally in Tel Aviv Saturday, he urged Israel not to continue with the second phase of the ceasefire until his son and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak are retrieved.
“Now the goal is to bring our Ran home,” he said, insisting that “there is no next stage and no ‘day after’ in Gaza before Ran is home.” He added that Hamas claimed to be searching but that “there is no progress.”
The dispute comes as the first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan continues, centered on returning hostages and locating bodies.
The second phase is intended to reshape Gaza’s security structure, including a handover of weapons by Hamas and the deployment of an international stabilization force alongside a staged Israeli withdrawal.
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