Qatar suspends Gaza mediation, in sign of impasse
Qatar has suspended its role as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until Hamas and Israel show "seriousness" in talks, the foreign ministry said Saturday.
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by Callum Paton with Anna Maria Jakubek in Jerusalem Nov 9, 2024 |
The Gulf emirate, which has hosted Hamas's political leadership since 2012 with US blessing, has been involved in months of protracted diplomacy aimed at ending the war triggered by the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on Israel last year.
But the talks, also mediated by Cairo and Washington, have repeatedly hit problems since a one-week truce in November 2023 -- the only one so far. Each side has blamed the other for the impasse.
"Qatar notified the parties 10 days ago, during the last attempts to reach an agreement, that it would stall its efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached in that round," Doha's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said in a statement.
"Qatar would resume those efforts... when the parties show their willingness and seriousness," he added.
A diplomatic source told AFP earlier: "The Qataris informed both the Israelis and Hamas that as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith, they cannot continue to mediate."
With Gaza truce talks deadlocked, the Hamas political office in Doha "no longer serves its purpose", said the diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Both Qatari and US officials have indicated that Hamas would remain in Doha as long as its presence offered a viable channel of communication.
A senior Hamas official in Doha told AFP: "We have not received any request to leave Qatar".
- 400 days of war -
Despite last November's truce, when scores of Hamas-held hostages were released, subsequent rounds of talks have failed to end the war.
The diplomatic source said Saturday that Qatar had "concluded that there is insufficient willingness from either side" to bridge the gaps in negotiations.
One crucial hurdle has been Hamas's insistence that Israel withdraw completely from Gaza, something Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected.
On the ground in the besieged Gaza Strip, the fighting showed no signs of abating on Saturday, the war's 400th day.
The territory's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes had killed at least 14 Palestinians overnight, including nine at a tent camp in the southern area of Khan Yunis.
Afaf Tafesh told AFP she had lost relatives in that strike.
"We have no food, no water, no place to sleep and we are all the time moving from place to place," she said.
Israel's military said its troops had killed "dozens of terrorists" in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, where it has conducted a sweeping air and ground operation for more than a month.
Visiting Jabalia on Friday, Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi told troops: "We are not stopping or slowing down.
He vowed "to bring back the hostages, to ensure security" for Israeli communities near the Gaza border, a statement from the military said.
A UN-backed assessment issued Saturday said famine is looming in northern Gaza because of a "rapidly deteriorating situation" with increased hostilities and a near-complete halt in food aid.
"Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future", said the alert from the Famine Review Committee.
The Israeli military said the report relied on "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests".
- Lebanon fighting -
The Hamas attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 43,552 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israelis have protested every weekend, pressing their government to do more to secure the captives' release. Crowds again demonstrated Saturday in commercial hub Tel Aviv.
Protester Ruti Lior said she was "very, very worried".
Qatar pulling back from mediation "is further proof to me that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is not really serious" about reaching a deal, the 62-year-old psychotherapist told AFP.
The conflict has expanded to Lebanon, where Israel intensified its air campaign in September and later sent in ground troops after a year of cross-border clashes with Hamas ally Hezbollah.
Lebanon's health ministry reported at least 20 killed in Israeli strikes on the east and another 13 in the south, including seven rescuers affiliated to Hezbollah and its ally Amal.
Hezbollah said Saturday it had attacked targets in northern Israel and downed an Israeli drone over south Lebanon.
More than 2,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23, according to ministry figures.
Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas, warned that the war could spread beyond the Middle East.
Qatar agrees to kick Hamas out of Doha following US request, sources say
Qatar agreed in recent weeks to kick Hamas out of its country following a request from the US to do so, capping off months of failed attempts to try to get the militant group – whose top leaders reside in the Qatari capital of Doha – to accept a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, US and Qatari sources told CNN.With efforts to pause the war – which has been a top priority for President Joe Biden – firmly stalled, US officials informed their Qatari counterparts about two weeks ago that they must stop giving Hamas refuge in their capital; Qatar agreed and gave Hamas notice about a week ago, sources said.“Hamas is a terrorist group that has killed Americans and continues to hold Americans hostage,” a senior administration official told CNN. “After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner.”A senior Hamas official said reports of Qatar agreeing to expel Hamas officials from Doha were “baseless” and a “pressure tactic,” adding that similar claims have been previously circulated without supporting evidence.“What was reported in the Israeli media about Qatar agreeing to expel Hamas from Doha following a US request has no basis and is merely a pressure tactic. This has been repeated without any evidence,” the Hamas official told CNN on Saturday.Throughout the course of the war and negotiations to bring the hostages home, US officials have asked Qatar to use the threat of expulsion as leverage in their talks with Hamas. The final impetus for Qatar agreeing to kick Hamas out came recently after the death of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Hamas’ rejection of yet another ceasefire proposal.Qatar has been a major player in efforts over the past year to try to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, in no small part because senior members of the militant group are based in Doha. Major negotiations have taken place in the Qatari capital for that reason.Exactly when Hamas operatives would be exiled out of Qatar – and where they would go – are unclear. One US official told CNN the group has not been given an extended amount of time to leave the country. While Turkey is seen as a possible option, the US is not likely to approve of that scenario for the same reasons that it does not want Qatar to give refuge to Hamas leadership.Earlier this year, the Justice Department charged several senior Hamas leaders over the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel. At least one of those defendants, Khaled Meshaal, is believed to be residing in Qatar.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also told Qatar over the summer to warn Hamas that if the group did not agree to halt the war in Gaza, they would risk getting kicked out of Doha.⍐
CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Eyad Kourdi contributed to this report.
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