Qatar stalls its Gaza ceasefire mediation

DOHA/CAIRO - Qatar has told Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel it will stall its efforts to mediate a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until they show "willingness and seriousness" to resume talks, its foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The Gulf country has been working alongside the United States and Egypt for months on fruitless talks between the warring sides in Gaza and any disengagement from that process could further complicate efforts to reach a deal.

The Qatari ministry also said press reports on the future of the Hamas political office in Doha were inaccurate without specifying how. Reuters had on Friday quoted a US official saying Washington had asked Qatar to expel the group and that Doha had passed this message on to Hamas.

An official briefed on the matter also said on Saturday that Qatar had concluded that with its mediation efforts paused, Hamas' political office there "no longer serves its purpose."

But three Hamas officials speaking off the record said the group had not been informed by Qatar that its leaders were no longer welcome in the country.

Qatar has hosted Hamas political leaders since 2012 as part of a deal with the US, and the group's presence there has facilitated the progress of talks.

The war erupted when Hamas gunmen attacked Israeli communities on Oct. 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and seizing another 253 as hostages. Israel's military campaign has leveled much of Gaza and killed around 43,500 Palestinians.

"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 the round," Qatar's foreign ministry said.

"Qatar will resume those efforts with its partners when the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war."

There was no official response from Hamas or Israel.

The latest round of talks in mid-October failed to produce a deal, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal. Israel has previously rejected some proposals for longer truces. Disagreements have centered on the long-term future of Hamas and Israel's presence in Gaza.

Hamas in Qatar

Washington had told Qatar that Hamas' presence in Doha was no longer acceptable in the weeks since the group rejected the October proposal, a US official said on Friday.

Qatar has not set a deadline for Hamas' political office to close or for Hamas leaders to leave Qatar, the official briefed on the matter said.

Qatar's foreign ministry said the Hamas office had been a channel of communication between the parties in Gaza and said it had contributed to a brief ceasefire and exchange of some hostages a year ago.

The official briefed on the matter pointed to a previous episode in April when Qatar had reconsidered Hamas' presence in the country, leading some Hamas officials to leave for Turkey.

"After two weeks, the Biden administration and the Israeli government asked Qatar to request their return," the official said, adding that Washington has said negotiations were ineffective when the Hamas leaders were in Turkey.

Qatar, designated as a major non-NATO ally by Washington, has long sought a role as a link between Western powers and their adversaries in the region.

The country hosts the largest US airbase in the Middle East but also allows Hamas and Afghanistan's Taliban to operate offices in Doha. It also helped negotiate a prisoner exchange between the US and Iran last year.

It is unclear how many Hamas officials live in Doha, but they include several possible replacements for leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israeli forces killed in Gaza last month.

They include Sinwar's deputy Khalil al-Hayya, who has led ceasefire negotiations for the group, and Khaled Meshaal, widely seen as Hamas' diplomatic face.

The group's previous leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran in July almost certainly by Israel, was also based in Doha. His body was flown to Qatar for burial in early August. —Reuters