Qatar pulls out of Gaza mediation: Senior diplomatic sources

Qatar has withdrawn as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and warned Hamas that its Doha office “no longer serves its purpose,” senior diplomatic sources told Al Arabiya English on Saturday.

“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,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

“As a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose.”

Qatar, with the United Sates and Egypt, has been engaged in months of fruitless negotiations for a truce with hostage and prisoner releases.

The informed source said Qatar had already “notified both sides, Israel and Hamas as well as the US administration” of its decision.

“The Qataris conveyed to the US administration that they would be ready to re-engage in mediation when both sides... demonstrate a sincere willingness to return to the negotiating table”, the source added.

In a new development, senior Biden administration officials publicized their demand for Qatar to stop providing a safe haven to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Senior diplomatic sources confirmed to Al Arabiya English that Doha asked Hamas ten days ago to leave the country because they refused to accept any ceasefire deal in Gaza. The diplomatic sources said the request was not due to US demands or requests.

“After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas’s rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal,” a senior Biden administration official told Reuters on Friday.

A group of Republican senators on Friday asked the Biden administration to press Qatar to freeze the assets of Hamas officials living in Doha, extradite senior Hamas figures Khaled Meshal and Khalil Al-Hayya, and hospitality of Hamas’ senior leadership. “The defeat of Hamas is within reach, and ending the safe haven that its leadership enjoys abroad is vital to defeating it,” the senators wrote.

Qatar began hosting Hamas leaders in 2012 as part of a request by Washington as a way of keeping channels of communication open with the group that has controlled Gaza after it overthrew the Palestinian Authority in the enclave.