Qatar has denied reports it had proposed an initiative to end the bloody encounter between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza Strip as the death toll in the enclave from Israeli raids top 800.
Assistant foreign minister, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, told London-based Asharq al-Awsat, that his country had earlier announced it was not carrying any initiative related to the Israeli war on Gaza, but is rather merely mediating between concerned parties such as the United States, the Palestinian Authority, the United Nations and Palestinian faction Hamas that runs the strip.
Earlier news reports had claimed that Islamist militant groups in Gaza, including Hamas, had rejected an Egyptian ceasefire proposal and asked instead for a Qatari-Turkish mediation.
Israel had set on its campaign against Gaza early July, saying it was launched in response to rocket fire from the strip against its soil.
Qatar is the most outstanding ally with the Muslim Brotherhood, from which the Hamas movement stems.
Edited translation from DPA
