Qatar quits mediation role in Hamas-Israel talks as terrorist group rumoured to be leaving Gulf state

10 November 2024, 00:11 | Updated: 10 November 2024, 00:50

Qatar has suspended mediation between Hamas and Israel, officials say.

It is not immediately clear whether the remaining Hamas leadership hosted by Qatar must leave, or where it would go.

Hamas has good relations with Iran and Turkey, and some of its leaders are now in Lebanon.

However, Qatar is highly likely to return to ceasefire efforts if both sides show "serious political willingness" to reach a deal on the war in Gaza, according to one spokesperson.

A diplomatic source said both Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, were informed after the decision was made.

Qatar told Israel and Hamas it cannot continue to mediate "as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith" and "as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose" in Qatar, a diplomatic source said.

Hamas was told by Qatar it will have to leave if it is not ready to engage in serious negotiations, the source added.

In Washington, a US official said the Biden administration informed Qatar two weeks ago that the Hamas office's continued operation in Doha was no longer useful and the Hamas delegation should be expelled.

A senior US official said that after Hamas rejected the last proposal for a ceasefire, Qatar accepted the advice and informed the Hamas delegation of the decision 10 days ago.

A senior Hamas official said they were aware of Qatar's decision to suspend mediation efforts, "but no-one told us to leave".

Hamas has repeatedly called for an end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as a condition for any ceasefire deal. Israel seeks the return of all hostages taken in Hamas' October 7 2023 attack on Israel and insists on a presence in Gaza.

The announcement comes after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a ceasefire deal.

Earlier, three separate Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people including women and children in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said.

There is no end in sight to Israel's campaigns against Hamas militants in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israel's military said that it struck command centres and other militant infrastructure overnight in Beirut's southern suburbs.

One of the strikes hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City's eastern Tufah neighbourhood, killing at least six people, Gaza's health ministry said.

Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead.

The Israeli army said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, offering no evidence or further detail.

Another seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering, according to a Nasser Hospital spokesperson.

The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducting 250 others.