'Critical moment' for Gaza, Qatari leader warns

‘What we have just done is a pause. We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire,’ he says.

- By Samy Maapy AND JOSEF FEDERMAN

DOHA, Qatar - Qatar's prime minister said Saturday that the Gaza ceasefire has reached a "critical moment" as its first phase winds down, with the remains of one Israeli hostage still to be handed over by militants.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani said at a conference in Doha, the Qatari capital, that international mediators led by the U.S. are working "to force the way forward" to the second phase to cement the deal.

"What we have just done is a pause," Mohammed said at the Doha Forum. "We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire." He added: "A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today." While the ceasefire halted the heavy fighting of the two-year war, Gaza health officials say 360 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took effect Oct. 10.

In new violence, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike northwest of Gaza City, Shifa Hospital said.

Israel's army said it wasn't aware of an airstrike in that location. But it said that Israeli soldiers on Saturday killed three militants who crossed the so-called yellow line into the Israeli-controlled northern part of the Gaza Strip and "posed an immediate threat." The Israeli army has said it has carried out a number of attacks on Palestinians crossing the ceasefire line.

Second phase hasn't yet begun

Under the first phase of the 20-point U.S. peace plan, the fighting stopped and dozens of hostages held in Gaza were exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israel sent a delegation the week before last to Egypt for talks on returning the remains of the last hostage.