LOC10:15
07:15 GMT
DOHA, July 26 (KUNA) -- Visiting Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Qatari counterpart Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah
on Saturday welcomed a 12-hour "humanitarian cease-fire" that reportedly went into effect in Gaza as of 8:00 a.m. local time today.
The truce became effective after the Palestinian Islamic movement, Hamas, declared its acceptance of the cease-fire, that came following intensive diplomacy spearheaded by US Secretary of State John Kerry, the UN and other regional and international quarters.
The Turkish and Qatari ministers, in a joint statement, welcomed the truce and affirmed their joint commitment to pursue serious action for negotiating a more lasting cease-fire, in coordination with the US and the UN.
They discussed in Doha on Friday developments in Gaza and the efforts to stop the Israeli offensive on the Strip, in addition to means to offer aid to the Palestinian people there. During the meeting, the two ministers received a phone call from Kerry, and the three carried on with negotiations for a stop of the aggression on the Palestinian people, according to the Qatari News Agency (QNA).
Both Davutoglu and Al-Attiyah phoned the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to put him in the picture regarding efforts to stop the aggression on the Strip and reach a just solution that guarantees protection for the Palestinian people. (end)
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