Turkey could take in some Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday during a visit to Qatar, Agence France-Presse reported.
“Our president has declared that we are ready to take in some freed Palestinians … in order to support the agreement,” Fidan said at a press conference in Doha.
“Turkey, along with other countries, will do its part in this regard so the ceasefire agreement can remain in force.”
The first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza provides for the release of 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in return for the release of some 1,900 prisoners, mostly Palestinians, held in Israeli jails.
However, many of these prisoners are to be sent into permanent exile after their release.
Of the 183 prisoners released in the latest exchange on Saturday, seven Palestinians and one Egyptian were deported.
At the same press conference on Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said he and Fidan had mainly discussed “developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and Syria” during their meeting behind closed doors.
Alongside Egypt and the United States, Qatar was one of the main mediators of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The Qatari prime minister called on “all parties to respect all the provisions of the agreement and to begin the second phase” in which a more permanent end to the fighting is to be achieved.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss the second phase of the deal when he meets with US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy in Washington on Monday, according to his office.
A date for formal talks between mediators and delegations from Hamas and Israel has not yet been set. The 42-day first phase is due to end next month.