Qatar suspends Gaza mediation role

Qatar suspends Gaza mediation role

DOHA
Qatar suspends Gaza mediation role

Qatar has suspended its role as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until Hamas and Israel demonstrate "seriousness" in talks, the foreign ministry said Saturday.

The Gulf emirate, which has hosted Hamas's political leadership since 2012 with U.S. blessing, has been involved in months of protracted diplomacy aimed at ending the war triggered by the Palestinian group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

However, the talks, also mediated by Cairo and Washington, have repeatedly faced obstacles 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 both parties show their willingness and seriousness," he added.

A diplomatic source told AFP that "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 U.S. 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, marking the war's 400th day.

The territory's civil defense agency reported that Israeli airstrikes had killed at least 14 Palestinians overnight, including nine at a tent camp in the southern area of Khan Yunis.

 

The Israeli military reported that 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 and ensure security" for Israeli communities near the Gaza border, according to a statement from the military.

A U.N.-backed assessment issued Saturday warned that famine is looming in northern Gaza due to a "rapidly deteriorating situation" with increased hostilities and a near-complete halt in food aid.

"Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or will be in the near future," said the alert from the Famine Review Committee.

The Israeli military stated that the report relied on "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

Lebanon fighting 

The Hamas attack that sparked the war resulted in 1,206 deaths, 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, which the United Nations considers reliable.

Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the Oct. 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 the commercial hub of Tel Aviv.

Protester Ruti Lior said she was "very, very worried."

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 in the east and another 13 in the south, including seven rescuers affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal.

Hezbollah reported on Saturday that it had attacked targets in northern Israel and downed an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon.

More than 2,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since Sept. 23, according to ministry figures.