'No truce until Israel leaves Gaza' - Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt begin pressure campaign at Doha Forum

As the Gaza peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be stalled over the failure of Hamas to return all of the hostage remains and agree to disarmament, as called for in the plan, some of the Muslim guarantors of Trump’s peace proposal are beginning to increase public pressure on Israel. 

At the Doha Forum, being held in Doha, Qatar, Dec. 6-7, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the current situation in Gaza is not a ceasefire, saying, “We are at the critical moment.” 

Calling the current situation “a pause,” Al Thani said, “We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire. A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today.” 

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs @MBA_AlThani_ , during a session titled “Mediation in a Time of Fragmentation” at the 23rd Edition of the Doha Forum:

A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full… pic.twitter.com/Wr7JzTIjSW

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) December 6, 2025

Al Thani said that Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and the United States are trying to “force the way forward for the next phase,” implying that these countries were pressuring Israel to make concessions, since Israeli leaders have publicly stated that the next phase cannot start without the return of all the hostages and the demilitarization of Gaza. 

The Qatari prime minister also said that his country believes the next phase of the ceasefire is also temporary, implying that the lack of a Palestinian state is the source of the conflict. 

“And this next phase is just also temporary from our perspective because at the end of the day, if we are looking at – if we are just resolving what happened in Gaza, the catastrophe that happened in the last two years, it's not enough because there is a root for this conflict,” Al Thani said. “This conflict is not only about Gaza. It's about Gaza. It's about the West Bank. It's about the rights of the Palestinians for their states. So we are hoping that we can work together with the U.S. administration to achieve this vision at the end of the day.” 

Al Thani’s comments contradict statements by Palestinian leaders, especially Hamas leaders, who have repeatedly asserted that they reject the two-state solution. 

This is Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad saying in very clear terms that he and Hamas do not accept the idea of a 2 state solution. pic.twitter.com/0p0uV3MDCF

— John Aziz (@aziz0nomics) November 26, 2024

Hamas Leader Abroad Khaled Mashal: We Reject the Two-State Solution; October 7 Has Shown that Liberating Palestine from the River to the Sea Is Realistic and Has Already Begun #Hamas #Israel #Palestinians #Gaza pic.twitter.com/fcnUsbzRN1

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) January 21, 2024

Prime Minister Al Thani did not address the several Hamas violations of the ceasefire, through attacks on IDF positions behind the Yellow Line, nor did he address the statements by Hamas leaders, rejecting any attempt to disarm the terror group, or bringing in an international force or a temporary governing body, as called for by the Trump Peace Plan, which Qatar agreed to. 

According to a report in Axios, the Trump administration hoped to announce the second phase of the Gaza peace process by Christmas, while also revealing more details about the governing body, which is to be headed by President Trump. 

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who is also attending the Doha Forum, implied that Israeli intransigence is putting the peace plan in danger. Specifically, Fidan claimed that Israel’s unwillingness to accept Turkish troops as part of the International Stabilization Force (ISF), could cause the plan to fail, along with “daily violations of the ceasefire by Israelis.” 

Fidan told the Forum, “First of all, Turkey is ready and willing to do whatever it takes for us to contribute to the ongoing peace effort that everybody is collectively contributing to. There is a big discussion taking place, how to form and what are the specific mission statements and what will be the rules of engagements” for the ISF. 

“I think when we define the mission of ISF, we should be realistic and nuanced in expecting certain things from ISF because there are realities in the field,” he continued. “And I think our first objective in deploying ISF should be to separate Palestinians from the Israelis on [the] borderline. This should be our main objective.” 

Consistent with Turkey’s rejection of any role for the ISF in disarming Hamas, Fidan said that the role of the force should be to sit on the border between Gaza and Israel and prevent any conflict between the two groups. 

Turkish FM Hakan Fidan blames @netanyahu for not allowing Turkish troops in ISF, completely ignoring statements by Turkish leaders openly calling for the conquest of Jerusalem.
He thinks Israel should listen to Muslim countries that want it to be in ISF. pic.twitter.com/5g4Gy9Psw3

— Jaime Hancock (@J_MicaAllIsrael) December 7, 2025

“What we need first, first and foremost is to stop the war between Palestinians and Israelis,” Fidan said during an interview at the Doha Forum. “That’s why we need ISF to separate Israelis and Palestinians, on the borderline, not to let them each other to attack (sic).” 

Asked if “there are other countries such as Indonesia that won't join the force unless Turkey is involved,” Fidan responded, naming several Muslim countries which he claimed want to see Turkish involvement. 

“Well, they want us to be part of the ISF because they know that we can play a leading role and we can really make their life easier in terms of getting more legitimacy and support from their public,” Fidan stated. “And Indonesia, Azerbaijan, and some other Muslim and Arab countries that we are working closely [with], and this is what they want to see for their troops to be sent.” 

The Turkish foreign minster said that President Trump “should have a very substantial conversation with Netanyahu, because… otherwise, there is a risk that the plan can fail.” 

Echoing accusations by Qatar and Turkey of Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for deployment of the ISF “as soon as possible.” 

“As for the International Stabilization Force, we need to deploy this force as soon as possible on the ground because one party, which is Israel, is every day violating the ceasefire and claiming that the other side is the one who is violating [it], so we need monitors,” Abdelatty stated at the Doha Forum. “We need international forces to be deployed alongside the Yellow Line.” 

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for the urgent deployment of an international stabilization force along the Gaza ceasefire “yellow line.” Speaking at the Doha Forum, he said Israel is the one violating the ceasefire daily while blaming the other side, emphasizing… pic.twitter.com/llGEKT2wbz

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 7, 2025

Abdelatty also agreed with Turkey, and the position of several other Muslim countries, that the ISF should only be a peacekeeping mission, not a peace enforcing one. Both Israel and the U.S. initially spoke of the ISF disarming Hamas. However, none of the Muslim countries in discussions with the U.S. about participating in the ISF want to engage in open confrontation with Hamas. 

The IDF has noted almost daily violations of the ceasefire, whether by gunmen firing on IDF positions behind the Yellow Line, or by the trapped Hamas fighters in Rafah, which have engaged Israeli soldiers in firefights on several occasions since the start of the ceasefire.