Turkey And Qatar Welcome Gaza Truce

Turkey and Qatar have welcomed the 12-hour ceasefire in Gaza which aims to give Palestinians the chance to receive food and water supplies and allow hospitals to get medical supplies.



Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Qatari counterpart Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah issued a joint statement early on Saturday following the approval of the truce by the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, and the Israeli government. 



"We reiterate our will to break our back working for a negotiated and sustained ceasefire between the two parties with the UN, USA and our other international partners," the statement said.



The statement said the two countries also appreciated Hamas' immediate approval of the truce.



Turkey and Qatar presented a proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as efforts brokered by Egypt and the US to reach a truce remained inconclusive. 



The initiative came as Davutoglu held talks with his US, French and Qatari counterparts in Qatar on Friday.



Earlier on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had notified US Secretary of State John Kerry and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that his country would begin a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for the day. 



Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Anadolu Agency the resistance group had earlier approved the United Nations-mediated "humanitarian pause", which came into effect at 8 a.m. (05: 00 GMT).



At least 889 Palestinians have been killed – mostly civilians – and more than 5840 others injured in Israel's ongoing offensive, now in its third week.



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