Israel’s military operation in Rafah has set truce negotiations with Hamas “backward”, mediator Qatar said, adding that talks have reached “almost a stalemate”, AFP reports.

“Especially in the past few weeks, we have seen some momentum building but unfortunately things didn’t move in the right direction and right now we are on a status of almost a stalemate,” Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told the Qatar Economic Forum.

“Of course, what happened with Rafah has set us backward.”

“There is no clarity how to stop the war from the Israeli side. I don’t think that they are considering this as an option… even when we are talking about the deal and leading to a potential ceasefire,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

Israeli politicians were indicating “by their statements that they will remain there, they will continue the war. And there is no clarity on what Gaza will look like after this”, he added.