THERE is renewed “momentum” towards a ceasefire in Gaza, Qatar’s top diplomat said on Saturday.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Qatari foreign minister and prime minister, told the Doha Forum that he was optimistic after November’s US presidential election result that there was now a fresh impetus towards ending the war.

This came after dozens of Palestinians were killed by the Israelis in continued attacks on Gaza.

Qatar said it had taken a step back from mediating Gaza ceasefire talks because it failed to see “a real willingness” to end the war.

But now Mr Thani said: “We have seen a lot of encouragement from the incoming [Trump] administration […] to achieve a deal even before the president comes into office” in January.

He added: “And that actually made us try to put it back on track. We’ve been engaging in the past couple of weeks.”

Ceasefire talks have stalled, with critics accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of creating obstacles to a deal. 

The administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden, which has repeatedly said it is pushing for an end to the fighting in Gaza but has continued to provide weapons to Israel, has also faced criticism for failing to secure a ceasefire.

More than 44,600 Palestinians have been slaughtered by the Israelis since the Hamas attack on October 7 2023, during which 1,200 people died and around 250 were taken hostage. 

Meanwhile, medical sources in Gaza said on Saturday that 39 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the territory, including a strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp that killed at least 26 people.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu reported that the attack on the refugee camp destroyed a building in a densely populated area housing displaced families.

He said: “People have been buried under tonnes of debris,” forcing rescuers and residents to scramble through the rubble to try to find possible survivors as well as bodies that can be taken for burial.

Social media footage over the weekend showed Israeli forces firing on a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance near the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern city of Beit Lahiya.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, said an international medical team “was forced to self-evacuate” amid the deteriorating security situation at Kamal Adwan Hospital.

He said in a social media post on Saturday that “displaced people, caregivers, and many injured patients began fleeing the hospital and panic spread,” but that 90 patients and 66 medical staff remained at the facility.