The Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, announced that he had received "a positive response" from Hamas on the agreement for the Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The prime minister said Hamas had given a "positive" response to the US-backed proposal to release the hostages in exchange for suspending Gaza's war with Israel.
"We have received a response from Hamas regarding the general framework of the hostage agreement. The response includes some comments, but in general it is positive," Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said during the press conference in Doha with the secretary of US State Antony Blinken.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA expects its preliminary report into Israeli allegations that a dozen of its employees took part in the October 7 attack on Israel will be ready early next month.
His representative in Lebanon, Dorothee Klaus, said this, quoted by the Guardian.
The UN official told reporters in Lebanon that the agency expects donors who suspended their funding after the allegations emerged to review their decisions based on the investigation.
The United Nations yesterday appointed an independent commission to evaluate UNRWA's neutrality in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.
The agency is under fire after the investigation revealed that 12 of its employees participated in various forms in the massacres in Israel.
The commission, appointed by Secretary General Antonio Guterres, will be led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, in collaboration with three research centers - the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway and the for Human Rights), according to a UN statement.
In the final report the commission will, if necessary, submit proposals to "improve the mechanisms in place" for the functioning of the organisation.
The appointment of the commission was decided in consultation with the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, who had requested it: the tasks will be to evaluate whether the agency is doing everything in its power "to guarantee its neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious violations if they occur."
Guterres noted that these accusations came at a time when the largest UN agency in the region "is working under extremely difficult conditions to provide life-saving assistance to the two million people in the Gaza Strip who depend on it for their survival." in one of the largest and most complex humanitarian crises in the world."
The independent external review of UNRWA's work will take place alongside an ongoing investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) into allegations of staff members' involvement in the October 7 attacks.
The commission will begin its work on February 14 and its final report, which will be made public, is expected to be completed at the end of April 2024.
Israel, 'We will provide evidence of links to Hamas
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, informed of the creation of the commission of inquiry, said that "We will provide all evidence that highlights UNRWA's links to terrorism and its harmful effects on regional stability."
"It is imperative - he added - that this Commission brings the truth to light, making the resignation of the president of UNRWA Lazzarini necessary".
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