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Comment on the picture, Former Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal speaks with movement leader Musa Abu Marzouk ahead of a transition conference in Doha in 2017.
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A senior US administration official told Reuters on Friday that the United States had told Qatar that the presence of Hamas in Doha was no longer acceptable.
The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “After Hamas rejected several proposals to release the hostages, its leaders cannot be welcomed in the capitals of any partner existence in the United States Hamas rejected a few weeks ago another proposal to release the guards. “
According to an American official, Qatar submitted this request to Hamas leaders about ten days ago. The United States was in contact with Qatar regarding the closing date of the political office of the movement, and told Qatar that the time was now.
Three Hamas officials denied that Qatar had told the movement’s leaders that they were no longer welcome in the country.
A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, and it remains unclear whether the Qataris have given a specific date for Hamas leaders to leave the country.
Qatar and the United States, along with Egypt, were involved in mediation to end the ongoing war in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
In mid-October, the three mediating countries relaunched indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, which had been suspended since last summer, but Hamas rejects any proposal ” which does not include a permanent cessation of aggression and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza. Struggle.”
Comment on the picture, US President Joe Biden’s administration says it plans to continue working to end the war in the Gaza Strip, before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next January.
The US State Department announced on Thursday that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken plans to continue his work to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon during the remainder of Biden’s term before the start of President-elect Donald Trump in office.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, “We will continue to work to end the war in Gaza, end the war in Lebanon, and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza It is our duty to follow these policies until noon on January 20, when the president takes office.”
In previous rounds of cease-fire talks, disagreements over new demands made by Israel regarding a future military presence in Gaza have stalled the agreement, even after Hamas accepted a version of the cease-fire proposal. fire that was published by Biden in May.
A source close to the talks told Reuters last August that the movement feared at the time that any concessions it made would be met with more demands.
In November 2023, the course of negotiations in Doha led to a seven-day ceasefire in Gaza, which allowed the release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and which also allowed humanitarian aid to go to the Strip. , before the ongoing war began from then on.
Why is Hamas office in Qatar?
Qatar hosted the political bureau of the Hamas movement in 2012. The head of the political bureau of the movement at the time, Khaled Meshaal, left Syria for Doha, after the start of the civil war and support for the Syrian opposition who waged a bloody struggle in face the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
According to statements by several American and Qatari officials, Qatar hosted the Hamas office at the request of the United States, which wanted to open an indirect line of communication with the movement to settle the intense conflict between the Palestinians. and Israel.
Qatar has come under repeated criticism from Israel, particularly from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it was funding Hamas and called on it in late January to press the move to the release Israeli enemies.
The Qatari Foreign Minister described Netanyahu’s statements at the time as an attempt to escalate and expand the war, underscoring Qatar’s commitment to mediation efforts and an end to the crisis.
Comment on the picture, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Qatar of funding Hamas
Qatar has also been criticized by US lawmakers for its ties to Hamas. On Friday, 14 US Republican senators in the US Senate wrote a letter to the US State Department asking Washington to immediately freeze the assets of Hamas officials living in Qatar, and several senior Hamas officials who remain in Qatar provided Qatar “ends hosting the leadership of Hamas.”
After the attack on October 7, 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told leaders in Qatar and elsewhere in the region that “it can no longer be business as usual” with Hamas, and the Qataris said they were open to reconsider the presence of Hamas. in the country.
Over the past year, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani has repeatedly stated that the Hamas office is in Doha to allow negotiations with the movement, and while the channel still useful, Qatar allows the Hamas office to remain open.
It is not clear how many Hamas officials are living in Doha, but they include several leaders who have been named as possible replacements for leader Yahya Sinwar, who has been was killed by the Israeli army in Gaza last month.
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2024-11-09 11:33:00
