Qatar withdraws as Gaza mediator after US asks Hamas to leave Doha

Qatar has withdrawn as a mediator in the ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas, a diplomatic source told CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

It comes after senior US officials reportedly said Washington would no longer accept the presence of Hamas representatives in Qatar, accusing the Palestinian group of rejecting new proposals to end the war in Gaza.

A media source said the Hamas political office in Doha “is no longer fulfilling its mission” due to its “refusal to engage in honest negotiations”.

Qatar is ready to continue its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas to show “sincere determination to return to the negotiating table”, the source said.

Hamas has had a base in the Qatari capital since 2012, reportedly at the request of the Obama administration.

In anonymous briefings to Reuters, US officials said the Qatari government had agreed to tell Hamas to close its political office 10 days ago.

These reports were denied by Hamas officials.

The small but powerful Gulf region is an important partner of the US in the region. It hosts America’s largest air base and hosts many sensitive political talks, including with Iran, the Taliban and Russia.

Alongside the US and Egypt, the Qataris have also played a major role in the so-far unsuccessful talks to end the year-long war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

But there is growing evidence of a shift in the relationship.

After the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Hamas held a two-hour mourning tent in Doha in a small hall, in stark contrast to the three-day mourning for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which was conducted under official and national security watch. .

The latest round of talks in mid-October failed to produce an agreement, with Hamas rejecting a proposal for a temporary ceasefire. The group has been calling for a complete end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Israel has also been accused of reneging on agreements. Days after being fired earlier this week, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of rejecting a peace deal against the advice of his security officials.

The call for Hamas to be expelled from Qatar appears to be an attempt by the outgoing Biden administration to force some sort of peace deal before his term ends in January.

If Hamas were to be forced to leave Doha, it is unclear where they would base their political office. A key ally, Iran, could be an option, although the assassination of former leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July suggests they may be at risk from Israel if they settle there. Nor would it give them anything close to the same diplomatic channels in the West.

A likely choice is Turkey. As a member of Nato but also a majority Sunni country, it will give the group a base from which to operate with relative security. Last April President Erdogan hosted the then political chief of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh and his delegation in Istanbul, where they talked about “what needs to be done to ensure the delivery of adequate and uninterrupted humanitarian aid to Gaza, and a just and lasting peace process in the region “.

This move will be greatly welcomed by Ankara, which often wants to position itself as a broker between east and west.

Important figures of Hamas such as Osama Hamdan, Taher al-Nunu, and others who often appear in the news channels have been in Istanbul for more than a month.

Their extended presence in Turkey marks a departure from previous visits, which were limited to short stays.

It is thought that the personal safety of the Hamas leadership is now a major concern for the group, which has killed two leaders in less than four months. Along with Haniyeh’s death in July, in October Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the 7 October Hamas attack in southern Israel.

According to the European Council of Foreign Relations, “Hamas has adopted a temporary model of collective leadership in order to reduce the effect of future Israeli killings”.

HA Hellyer, senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), told the BBC that nowhere “will give them protection from Israeli assassination attempts in the same way as in Doha, where America has its largest military base in the region. , it did”.

This latest move comes as US officials appear increasingly frustrated with the Israeli government’s approach to ending the war. In October, the US Secretaries of State and Defense said that if Israel did not allow more aid into the area by November 12, deal with unspoken policy “consequences”..

Last weekend many UN officials warned the situation in northern Gaza as a “massacre”. On Saturday, the independent Famine Review Committee said that “there is a high probability that famine is imminent”.

Relations between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu have deteriorated during the Gaza war, due to increasing pressure from Washington to improve the humanitarian situation for the Palestinians and find some kind of negotiated agreement.

But, according to Dr. Hellyer, US efforts to negotiate have been seriously flawed.

“By setting red lines and allowing Netanyahu to go without consequence, the Biden administration has successfully encouraged continued impunity. I don’t think this will change in the next 10 weeks,” he said.

Any overreach has been repeatedly denied by Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition, who will now feel emboldened by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.

While whatever path Trump will take in the region remains uncertain, it is thought he would let Israel do it on its own terms.

Earlier he said Israel should “finish what it started” in Gaza. During his last term in the White House, he took several steps that appear to be very favorable to Israel, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.

It was also reported that Trump told Netanyahu that he wanted to see an end to the fighting when he took office.

Either way, it seems that the current US administration will have little influence on the Jerusalem government.

So they may believe that the best way to force some kind of deal is to put pressure on Hamas. Whether it pays off may depend on whether Qatar, such a long-time partner, decides to go along with it.