US demands Qatar expel Hamas if they reject another ceasefire - Washington Post

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned Qatar last month that they should expel Hamas senior officials if the terror group rejects another ceasefire proposal, the Washington Post reported Saturday morning.

Qatar reportedly responded that they told Hamas leadership to be prepared for a scenario in which they would be forced to leave the country.

Three senior officials cited in the report claimed Qatar was preparing for Hamas’s expulsion for months due to frustration with Hamas’s unwillingness to accept ceasefire proposals, frustration that has grown with Hamas's lack of response to the current proposal.

Booting Hamas from Qatar

 Qatar could close the political office of Hamas as part of a broader review of its role as a mediator in the war between Israel and the militant Palestinian Islamist group, according to an official familiar with the Qatari government's reassessment.

The Gulf state was weighing whether to allow Hamas to continue operating the political office, and the broader review includes considering whether or not to continue mediating in the seven-month conflict, the official told Reuters.

Qatar said last month it was reevaluating its role as mediator in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, citing concerns that its efforts were being undermined by politicians seeking to score points.

"If Qatar isn’t going to be mediating, they won’t see a point in keeping the political office. So that is a part of the reassessment," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official did not know if Hamas would be asked to leave Doha if the Qatari government did decide to close the group's office. However, the official did say Qatar's own review of its role would be influenced by how Israel and Hamas act during the ongoing negotiations.

The Biden administration reportedly hoped that the threat of expelling the Hamas leadership from Qatar would act as political leverage. However, analysts cited by the Post claimed it would only complicate negotiations.

“Applying pressure to Hamas in Doha is ineffective pressure,” an official briefed on the talks said. “The problem is the guys making the decisions are in Gaza, and they don’t care where the political office is located.”

Patrick Theros, a former US ambassador to Qatar, told the source that removing Hamas from Qatar would be “a nightmare” for the White House, and would foreclose any future talks. “We’d be cutting off our nose to spite our face,” he said.

Senior Hamas official Husam Badran claimed in early March that Hamas was not the party stalling a ceasefire in Gaza, but rather the disinterest came from Israel and America. “We didn’t declare negotiations have been stopped. We are the party most keen to stop this war,” he said.

“The only complication in the negotiations is Netanyahu’s stance, who refuses to deal with anything on the table,” he said. “Netanyahu is the most dangerous [person] for the stability of this region. He is the fire starter.”

According to Egyptian and Hamas officials, Qatar has threatened to expel Hamas officially from their base in Doha if they don't come to an agreement, but Badran denied this claim.

Badran also denied that Israel requested a list of living hostages, despite Arab mediators confirming that Hamas refused to provide that information.

December reports also indicated that Israel had requested a condition of the ceasefire be that Hamas leadership be expelled from the Gaza Strip, and and anonymous source listed Qatar as a potential new home for the terrorist rulers of Gaza.