Cairo, Nov 9 (EFE).- Qatar has informed Israel and Hamas that it is ending its role as a mediator in ceasefire talks in Gaza, Qatari diplomatic sources told EFE on Saturday.
The sources said that Hamas’ political office in the Qatari capital Doha “no longer serves its purpose.”
“We told the Israelis and Hamas that as long as they refuse to negotiate an agreement in good faith the mediation cannot continue,” the sources said on condition of anonymity.
The move comes amid reports in US and Arab media that the Qatari government had asked the leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement, which governs the Gaza Strip, to leave Doha given the lack of progress in talks that would allow the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Qatar has no political relations with Israel, and since 2012 has hosted Hamas’ political office in Doha, where a number of the group’s political leaders reside, including its former chief Khaled Mashal or the head of its negotiating team, Jalil al Haya.
The former political leader of the group, Ismail Haniyeh, also lived in the Qatari capital before he was assassinated at the end of July during a visit to Tehran in an attack attributed to Israel.
The Qatari government, an ally of Washington, has played an important mediating role alongside Egypt and the United States in negotiations for a truce in Gaza to allow the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and the entry of aid to civilians in Gaza.
That mediation has so far only achieved a one-week truce, at the end of November 2023. Negotiations have been stalled since August.
Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, this week told US president-elect Donald Trump that he hoped Washington and Doha “will move forward in shared efforts to promote security and stability both in the (Middle East) region and globally.” EFE
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