Qatar Talks Crucial Step Towards Gaza Ceasefire: Palestinian Official

(MENAFN- IANS) Ramallah, Aug 16 (IANS) The ceasefire talks held in Qatar will be a significant step towards ending the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said.

"What is happening today in Qatar represents a real starting point for ending the suffering of the Palestinian people, and declaring a ceasefire is a precursor to ending the Occupation and aggression," Jibril Rajoub, Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), said during a press conference in al-Bireh, the central West bank on Thursday.

This could be "the first step in addressing the imminent danger to regional stability and global peace due to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands, and the continued disregard by Israel for international legitimacy," he was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

He stressed that the Palestinian people's choice is to remain steadfast, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, despite "the crimes, martyrs, prisoners, and missing persons."

Any solution lies in recognising the Palestinian people's right to exist on their land according to the decisions of international legitimacy, alongside the state of Israel, with security and peace, and abandoning the policy of "Israeli expansion and denial of our rights," he said.

A new round of ceasefire negotiations began on Thursday in Doha, Qatar, with US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators present. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorised an Israeli delegation to attend, but Hamas has declared it will not participate.

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