Turkey and Qatar to propose Gaza ceasefire initiative

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed a draft ceasefire initiative that would be proposed as an alternative to the Egyptian one, Palestine Online news website reported.

According to Turkish journalist Muhammad Zahid Gul, the initiative “will be publicised in the coming days as an alternative to the Egyptian initiative.”

Erdogan and Sheikh Tamim met yesterday in Ankara and discussed joint efforts to stop the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

The meeting was attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Intelligence Chief Hakan Fidan and Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Attiya.

During the meeting, US Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned the Qatari and Turkish foreign ministers, and stressed the need to include all sides in the ceasefire agreement.