After 400 days of back and forth over the hostages in Gaza, mediation for their release was abandoned from one of the main actors: Qatar has informed Israel and Hamas that it will stop taking part in the negotiations. Doha’s accusations against the Israeli executive and the Islamist group that governs the Strip are harsh. A non-American diplomat told the Times of Israel that Qatar made the decision alone (but several sources say it did not), frustrated by the lack of good faith on both sides as negotiations “became more a matter of politics and elections, rather than a serious attempt to secure peace.” The source said both sides repeatedly backed away from commitments made during the talks. As for Israel, the resigned Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking with the families of the hostages two days ago, stated that “the agreement is neither military nor political, Benyamin Netanyahu is the only one who decides”. Meanwhile, on Friday Kan TV anticipated a turning point in Qatari policy towards Hamas, which would have been asked to leave Doha, since its office in the country “was no longer” serving its purpose and consequently “they are no longer the welcome.”
Although the fundamentalist organization has been well received since 2012, including former political leader Ismail Haniyeh until he was killed in Tehran last July. An American official revealed that two weeks ago the Biden administration asked Qatar to expel Hamas, explaining that the request was granted and sent the notification around October 28. This morning several rumors confirmed Qatar’s position after Hamas’ continued rejection of an agreement on the release of the hostages, including the partial plan discussed after the assassination of Yahya Sinwar: «Hamas leaders no longer have a place in the capital of a US partner country,” a US source said. For its part, speaking from Doha, Hamas declared that it had “nothing to confirm or deny given that it has not received any request to leave Qatar”. Previously, however, it was known that the Arab country would inform the other mediators – the United States and Egypt – of its decisions but without providing information on the timeframe granted to Hamas to leave the country. The diplomat who spoke anonymously to the Times of Israel stressed that the Qatari initiative may not be definitive: if both sides demonstrate a sincere desire to negotiate in good faith, the doors of Doha could reopen.
From the background it also emerges that already in April senior Hamas officials were asked to move to Türkiye. The movers then returned because Washington does not want its ally and NATO member, Ankara, to permanently host a terrorist group. The Biden administration in the meantime, despite the fact that President-elect Donald Trump is only a few weeks away from taking office, continues to work on the agreement for the release of the hostages and the ceasefire, believing that the expulsion could convince Hamas to soften its demands. According to the New York Times, a line of continuity in the States is also being pursued through the constant information that Israel provides on the talks and the war in Gaza to Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former advisor for Middle Eastern affairs. At the end of Shabbat, hundreds of people returned to demonstrate in the streets, this time in front of the IDF headquarters, displaying banners with the words «Why are they still in Gaza? 400 days: Netanyahu’s shame.”