Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, officials said Saturday. The announcement comes after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a deal.
DEIR AL-Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, officials said Saturday.
However, Qatar is highly likely to return to the efforts if both sides show “serious political willingness” to reach a deal on the war in Gaza, according to one official.
A diplomatic source briefed on the matter said both Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, were informed after the decision was made. The source added that “as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Hamas hasn’t acknowledged any ultimatum to leave Qatar. The Israeli prime minister’s office had no comment.
The announcement comes after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal.
Meanwhile, three separate Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people, including women and children, in Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, and Israel announced the first delivery of humanitarian aid in weeks to hungry, devastated northern Gaza.
There continued to be no end in sight to Israel’s campaigns against Hamas militants in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israel’s military said that it struck command centers and other militant infrastructure overnight in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
One of the strikes in Gaza hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighborhood, killing at least six people, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
