Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that his country does not accept the use of starvation and aid as "weapons against the Palestinian people in Gaza," calling for action to "force Israel to allow aid into" the Strip.

This came during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in the Qatari capital, Doha, as part of the latter's official visit to the country.

At the press conference, the Qatari Foreign Minister said, "We continue our efforts with our partners to end the war in Gaza."

He added, "We cannot accept the use of starvation and humanitarian and relief aid as a weapon against the brotherly Palestinian people. We must work with our allies to compel Israel to allow aid into the country."

The Gaza Strip, with a population of approximately 2.4 million, is almost entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, which has been completely halted since March 2, when Israel closed the Kerem Shalom, Zikim, and Beit Hanoun crossings.

The minister expressed Qatar's concern over "the collapse of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and Israel's resumption of its aggression, which has left more casualties and destruction and exacerbated the suffering of more than two million Palestinians."

He said, "Despite the obstacles that amount to political blackmail, we continue to work with Egypt and the United States to advance toward the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and its full implementation."

The Qatari Foreign Minister added: "We worked through our mediation to bring viewpoints closer together, but we were met with a torrent of malicious rumors. Our country is clear in its dealings, and the facts have proven the allegations against us to be false."

Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, Qatar has been playing a mediating role with Egypt and the United States to stop it, and has succeeded in concluding two truces, one in late December 2023 and the other in January 2025.

In early March 2025, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel concluded. The agreement, which took effect on January 19, 2025, was brokered by Egypt and Qatar and supported by the United States.

On March 18, Israel reneged on the agreement and resumed its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, despite Hamas's commitment to all terms of the agreement.

With full American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 168,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.