The future of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas remains uncertain after Qatar announced it was suspending its mediation efforts.
Qatar has acted as a key ceasefire negotiator between Israel and Hamas over the last year.
It comes after Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza and Lebanon killed at least 63 people over the weekend. Authorities in Syria claim an Israeli strike killed seven people on Sunday.
The United Nations (UN) also released new data last week showing women and children made up 70% of deaths in Gaza over the past year.
Background
Hamas, a terrorist organisation, launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
101 hostages remain captive in Gaza.
Israel responded by declaring war on Hamas and bombarding Gaza.
Data cited by the UN shows around 43,400 Palestinians have been killed in the past 13 months. The war has caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
A day after Hamas’ attack, Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, began launching rockets at Israel.
Since then, Israel has launched strikes and ground attacks in Lebanon.
More than 3,100 people in Lebanon have been killed in the conflict, according to UN figures.
Qatar
Over a year into the conflict, Qatar has suspended its efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
The country has been a key facilitator (along with the U.S. and Egypt) in ceasefire talks, including mediations that led to a brief pause in fighting in the early stages of the war.
Many senior Hamas leaders have been based out of Qatar since 2012, including Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh was the group’s political leader before his assassination in Iran in July.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry has said it refuses to mediate further discussions between Israel and Hamas until both parties show a “willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war”.
There are also reports that the outgoing Biden administration recently called for Hamas officials to be expelled from Qatar because of the stalled negotiations.
Qatari officials have not directly confirmed this.
Gaza
It comes as Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza killed more than 40 people over the weekend.
Local media and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said 24 people were killed and around 30 others were injured when the strikes destroyed a three-storey home.
Israel’s military said it had “eliminated dozens of terrorists and dismantled many terror infrastructure sites” in the Jabalia area.
Lebanon
In northern Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike on the village of Almat killed 23 people, including seven children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the strikes were targeted at weapons storage sites and Hezbollah members.
Earlier this week, a Hezbollah rocket killed an Israeli teenager in the country’s north.
Syria
In Syria, at least seven people were killed and 14 injured in strikes near Damascus, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
The group said that one of those killed was Hezbollah’s commander in Syria. It said the strikes were targeted at an apartment building inhabited by Lebanese families and Hezbollah members.
Israel has not commented on the strike.
UN data
The strikes follow the UN’s latest six-month update on the human rights situation in Gaza.
The findings from the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) cover the period from November 2023 to April 2024.
The OHCHR found more than 70% of deaths in Gaza were women and children. About 80% of deaths occurred in residential buildings.
Children under 14 years old represented the highest proportion of verified deaths.
UN Human Rights chief, Volker Türk, said the monitoring showed an “unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians”.
“Tragically, these documented patterns of violations continue unabated, over one year after the start of the war.”
The Israeli government has not commented on the OHCHR report.
Senior leaders and officials have previously denied Israel is targeting civilians in Gaza.
