Qatar has suspended its role as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until Hamas and Israel show “seriousness” in talks, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.
The Gulf emirate, which has hosted Hamas’ political leadership since 2012 with the US’ blessing, has been involved in months of protracted diplomacy aimed at ending the war triggered by the Palestinian group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year.
However, the talks, also mediated by Cairo and Washington, have repeatedly hit problems since a one-week truce in November last year — the only one so far. Each side has blamed the other for the impasse.
Photo: Reuters
“Qatar notified the parties 10 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,” Doha’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, said in a statement. “Qatar would resume those efforts ... when the parties show their willingness and seriousness,” he added.
“The Qataris informed both the Israelis and Hamas that as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith, they cannot continue to mediate,” a diplomatic source said earlier.
With Gaza truce talks deadlocked, the Hamas political office in Doha “no longer serves its purpose,” the diplomatic source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Qatari and US officials have indicated that Hamas would remain in Doha as long as its presence offered a viable channel of communication.
“We have not received any request to leave Qatar,” a senior Hamas official in Doha said.
Despite the truce last year, when scores of Hamas-held hostages were released, subsequent rounds of talks have failed to end the war.
The diplomatic source said that Qatar had “concluded that there is insufficient willingness from either side” to bridge the gaps in negotiations.
One crucial hurdle has been Hamas’ insistence that Israel withdraw completely from Gaza, something Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected.
On the ground in the besieged Gaza Strip, the fighting showed no signs of abating on Saturday, the war’s 400th day.
The territory’s civil defence agency said Israeli airstrikes had killed at least 14 Palestinians overnight, including nine at a tent camp in the southern area of Khan Yunis.
A UN-backed assessment issued on Saturday said famine is looming in northern Gaza because of a “rapidly deteriorating situation” with increased hostilities and a near-complete halt in food aid.
“Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future,” the alert from the Famine Review Committee said.
The Israeli military said the report relied on “partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”
The Hamas attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,552 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the Oct. 7 attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS