Qatar says Gaza hostage releases need ‘period of calm’

Qatar's foreign ministry said on Sunday that without a "period of calm" in Gaza its mediators would not be able to secure the release of Israeli hostages held there. "Any hostage release has to be linked to a period of calm that allows for the hostage release to work, which is something we have not seen for a while," Majed Al Ansari, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday rejected U.S. calls for a temporary stop to Israel's offensive against Hamas to facilitate work to free more than 240 hostages seized by the Palestinian Islamist group.