Qatar confirms that it suspends mediation between Israel and Hamas due to lack of progress towards a truce in Gaza

Qatar confirmed this Saturday the suspension of its mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas due to lack of progress in negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip, but he assured that he will resume them when there is “the seriousness necessary to put an end to the war.”

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The spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majid al Ansari, also clarified that “the information circulating” about Qatar’s withdrawal from the negotiations or the closure of the Hamas political office in Doha “are not accurate.”

“Qatar notified the parties 10 days ago during recent attempts to reach an agreement that it would suspend its mediation efforts in the event that an agreement is not reached in that round and will resume them, together with its partners, when the information is available. seriousness necessary to end the brutal war,” Al Ansari said, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

“The State of Qatar will then be at the forefront and will make all commendable efforts to end the war and return the hostages and prisoners,” he asserted.

Qatari diplomatic sources in Cairo had assured EFE that Doha has informed Israel and Hamas that it is withdrawing from the mediation work it has carried out for more than a year for a truce in Gaza.

They also assured that the Qatari authorities notified the Palestinian Islamist group that, due to the lack of progress and the stagnation of the dialogue, its office in Doha “no longer serves the purpose” for which it had been established.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman considered “the information related to the Hamas office in Doha to be inaccurate.”

“The main objective of the office’s presence in Qatar is to be a channel of communication between interested parties. This channel has previously achieved a ceasefire and contributed to maintaining a truce that led to the exchange of prisoners and hostages, women and children , in November last year,” Al Ansari said.

He was alluding to the only one-week truce achieved at the end of November 2023.

Negotiations have been stalled since last August due to mutual accusations between Israel and Hamas of hindering the achievement of an understanding.

Last October, the intelligence chiefs of Israel, Egypt and the United States – who also play a mediating role -, as well as the head of the Qatari government, held a renewed round of negotiations in Doha, but there were no results either.

The Palestinian Islamist group does not directly attend these contacts, but communicates with Qatar and Egypt through its office in Doha.

“Qatar will not accept that mediation is a reason for blackmail, as has happened since the collapse of the first truce,” Al Ansari warned.

He denounced that “we have seen manipulation, especially when retracting the commitments agreed through mediation, as well as exploitation of the negotiations to justify the continuation of the war for political purposes,” he added, without specifying.

Qatar does not have political relations with Israel and since 2012 has hosted the Hamas political office in Doha. where several political leaders of the group reside, such as its former boss Khaled Mishal 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 being assassinated at the end of July during a visit to Tehran, in an attack attributed to Israel.