Mediators are pressing ahead with efforts to uphold a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip despite continued Israeli violations, as attention turns to a meeting scheduled in Istanbul on Monday.
The meeting, announced by Türkiye, one of the guarantors of the deal reached in Sharm el-Sheikh last month, is expected to carry several messages, according to Palestinian and Turkish analysts who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.
Chief among them is a call to Israel to maintain the ceasefire and expedite approval for the deployment of an international stabilization force in Gaza.
The gathering will also urge Washington to sustain pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to remove any obstacles to the agreement’s implementation.
As the Israeli army confirmed on Saturday that the crisis over the bodies of hostages remains unresolved, and continued its strikes for a fourth consecutive day across Gaza, mediation efforts have intensified.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a press conference on Friday that the foreign ministers of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group, who met US President Donald Trump in New York in September, will convene in Istanbul on Monday.
“The meeting will discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and how to move to the second phase, which is the stabilization force,” Fidan said, adding that Ankara was concerned about the fragility of the truce, according to Reuters.
Palestinian political analyst Abdel Mahdi Mutawe said the Istanbul meeting would serve as “a platform for influential countries to help consolidate the Gaza ceasefire after repeated Israeli violations,” noting that Türkiye seeks to play a more active role in this phase.
Turkish political analyst Taha Odeh Oglu said the upcoming meeting carries significant implications amid the complex situation caused by Israeli breaches and delays in advancing to the next stage.
“It will be a real test for forging a unified stance to confront Israeli challenges, a message to Washington, which continues to back Israel, and a signal that the Arab and Islamic coalition remains engaged,” he said.
Hours after the process of returning hostages’ bodies faltered again, when Israel announced that three bodies handed over by Hamas were not those of the captives, Israeli forces carried out new airstrikes on Gaza on Saturday, a security source in the enclave told Agence France Presse.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Friday that Israeli forces had bombed the Gaza Strip for the third straight day, killing two people.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Israel responded to the killing of one of its soldiers with airstrikes that Gaza’s Health Ministry said left 104 people dead. Israel said on Wednesday it “remains committed to the ceasefire agreement despite its military response.”
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Wednesday that mediators were in contact with both sides to preserve the ceasefire.
“We are closely following the challenges the Gaza ceasefire faced on Tuesday. Our focus is to ensure the truce holds, and intensive communication has taken place with both parties to maintain it,” he said.
In a televised interview on Thursday, Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, said Netanyahu “does not want to move to the second phase of the Gaza agreement,” which includes forming a Palestinian administration to govern the enclave.
He added that the Gaza agreement remains intact despite Israeli violations, which he described as “not surprising from an occupying power responsible for killing 70,000 Palestinians over the past two years.”
Rashwan said Netanyahu aims to create tension for both the Palestinians and mediators, particularly Egypt and Qatar, and is seeking to reshape Israel’s domestic political scene by calling early elections.
The Istanbul meeting comes as Netanyahu last week hinted at his opposition to any role for Turkish security forces in Gaza as part of a US-backed mission to monitor the ceasefire with Hamas. On Saturday, Israeli officials again cited the unresolved issue of the hostages’ bodies.
Mutawe said Egypt’s role remains crucial, especially as it hosted the signing of the Gaza deal last month, which is expected to continue under US guarantees.
He added that the Istanbul meeting is unlikely to overcome major obstacles, particularly those related to the stabilization force.
“Israel is exerting heavy pressure to exclude any Turkish involvement in Gaza, whether in reconstruction or through international forces, and it has explicit US backing for that position,” he said, adding that the Istanbul talks are unlikely to pressure Washington to dissuade Israel from its veto.
However, Oglu said the meeting could still succeed in forming a unified bloc to counter Israeli efforts to sway Washington over the agreement’s terms.
He noted that Ankara’s role in the international forces remains complicated, given the personal rivalry between Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
