US, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey urge restraint in Gaza

FE Team | Published: December 21, 2025 21:31:31

People gather during a search and rescue operation at the site of a house that was partially destroyed during the war and collapsed on Tuesday at Shati refugee camp in Gaza — Reuters

MIAMI, Dec 21 (AFP): The United States was joined Saturday by Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in urging parties in the Gaza ceasefire to uphold their obligations and exercise restraint, the chief US envoy said after talks in Miami.
Top officials from each nation met with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy, to review the first stage of the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.
"We reaffirm our full commitment to the entirety of the President's 20-point peace plan and call on all parties to uphold their obligations, exercise restraint, and cooperate with monitoring arrangements," said a statement posted by Witkoff on X.
Their meeting came amid continuing strains on the agreement.
Gaza's civil defense said six people were killed Friday in Israeli shelling of a shelter. That brought to 400 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the deal took effect.
Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of violating the truce, with the military reporting of its three soldiers killed in the territory since October.
Saturday's statement cited progress yielded in the first stage of the peace agreement, including expanded humanitarian assistance, return of hostage bodies, partial force withdrawals and a reduction in hostilities.
It called for "the near-term establishment and operationalization" of a transitional administration which is due to happen in the second phase of the agreement, and said consultations would continue in the coming weeks over its implementation.
Under the deal's terms, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force is to be deployed.
US senator accuses Hamas
of cementing Gaza power
US Senator Lindsey Graham accused Hamas and Hezbollah of rearming during a visit to Israel on Sunday, and charged that the Palestinian Islamist group was also consolidating power in Gaza.
After two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian territory, a fragile ceasefire has held since October, despite both sides trading accusations of violations.
A separate ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah came into effect in November 2024 after more than a year of hostilities, though Israel continues to carry out strikes on Lebanese territory.