Doha suspends mediation efforts until Israel, Hamas serious about hostage talks

Doha on Saturday suspended its mediation efforts to secure a Gaza hostage deal until such time as Israel and Hamas are serious about ending the war.

“Qatar notified the parties ten days ago during the last attempts to reach an agreement, that it would stall its efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached in that round,” the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari said in a statement posted on the Qatari News Agency website.

“Qatar will resume those efforts with its partners when the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians caused by catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the [Gaza] Strip,” Ansari said.

His country, he said, would not allow itself to be blackmailed as he appeared to accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of reneging on assurances given to mediators and of continuing the Gaza war to serve his “narrow political purposes." 

Ansari rejected as "inaccurate" reports that Qatar had closed the Hamas office in Doha, noting that “the main goal of the office in Qatar is to be a channel of communication between the concerned parties. This channel has contributed to achieving a ceasefire in previous stages, and contributed to maintaining calm in the Strip." 

Hamas unwilling to negotiate without an end to Gaza war

Qatar and Egypt, with the help of the United States, have been the main mediators for negotiations to secure the release of the hostages seized during the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7, completing one deal in November but failing to finalize a second deal to secure the release of the remaining 101 captives in Gaza.

Its announcement late Saturday night comes amid political shake-ups in Washington and Jerusalem that are likely to impact policy with respect to a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal. Sources in Jerusalem have speculated that Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House on Tuesday has given Qatar cold feet, fearing it will be held liable if the talks continue to fail once Trump is in the White House. During his first presidency, Trump in 2017 had worked to isolate Qatar from its Arab neighbors, charging that it was funding terror activity.

Doha’s announcement also comes just one day after Israel Katz replaced defense minster Yoav Gallant, who had supported ending the Gaza war in favor of a hostage deal. Katz is expected to stand with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in rejecting any permanent ceasefire until Hamas is completely destroyed in Gaza. Netanyahu has sought deals that allow Israel to retain security control of Gaza. Hamas has insisted that any deal must include an IDF pullout and an end to the war.

A senior Biden administration official told The Jerusalem Post that “The US is continuing to pursue a number of initiatives to secure the release of hostages; that work is ongoing,” but did not otherwise comment on the report of Qatar suspending its mediator role.

The last round of high-level talks led by CIA Director William Burns were held in Doha two weeks ago. Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani participated in the talks, which focused on a mini-deal that would be a confidence-building measure that could lead to a larger deal. Hamas rejected the initiative.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a slew of diplomatic telephone calls on Friday, in which he discussed the drive for a hostage deal. This included foreign ministers Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan from the UAE, and Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud from Saudi Arabia. David Lammy of Britain and Annalena Baerbock from Germany. 

The US and Israel had asked Qatar to kick Hamas out of Doha as a pressure tactic to restart talks, with both governments blaming the terrorist group for the stalled negotiations.

The latest push from Washington for Qatar to act on that request came already two-weeks ago prior to the US election and it had been understood that Doha had agree to that request, but no action had actually been taken.

Washington has been particularly frustrated with Hamas in the aftermath of its execution of six hostages at the end of August during an intense round of talks when it had appeared that an agreed limited release of humanitarian captives was at hand. Among the six who were killed was Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Qatar, designated as a major non-NATO ally by Washington, has hosted Hamas's political leaders since 2012 as part of an agreement with the US.

It is unclear how many Hamas officials live in Doha, but they include several touted as possible replacements for leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israeli forces killed in Gaza last month, including Sinwar's deputy Khalil al-Hayya, who has led ceasefire negotiations for the group, and Khaled Meshaal, widely seen as Hamas' diplomatic face.

The group's previous leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran in July had also been based in Doha. It’s widely believed that Israel is responsible for his killing, even though Jerusalem has never taken responsibility for it.

Reuters contributed to this report.