Turkey could accept some Palestinians freed by Israel — FM

DOHA — Turkey could take in some Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel under the terms of its ceasefire deal with Hamas, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Qatar on Sunday.

"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 centres on the release of 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in return for the freeing of around 1,900 prisoners, mostly Palestinians, being held in Israeli jails.

Many of those prisoners, however, are to be permanently exiled upon their release.

Of the 183 prisoners freed during the latest exchange on Saturday, seven Palestinians and one Egyptian were deported.

Speaking 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 closed-door meeting.

Qatar was one of the principal negotiators of the Gaza truce, alongside Egypt and the United States.

The Qatari premier called on "all parties to respect all the provisions of the agreement and to begin the second phase", which is meant to hammer out a more permanent end to the fighting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will begin discussing the second phase of the deal when he meets US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy in Washington on Monday, his office has said.

A date for formal talks involving mediators and delegations from Hamas and Israel has not been set, with the 42-day first phase due to end next month.