Qatar announced Saturday that it has paused its role as a mediator for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas due to a lack of willingness by the sides to reach an agreement.
“The State of 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,” Majed Al-Ansari, the spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said in a statement Saturday.
The statement detailed Qatar’s withdrawal from mediation efforts, which the country had been a central part of for more than a year. After months of stop-and-go negotiations, efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal – a top priority for President Joe Biden – remain stalled.
Officials in Doha have also decided to close Hamas’ political office in the Qatari capital, a diplomat familiar with the decision told CNN.
Doha decided “about a week ago to suspend the office because the parties aren’t negotiating in good faith,” the diplomat said. “The office won’t be operational so (Hamas) may leave. The office could open again if talks restart.”
US and Qatari sources told CNN on Friday that Qatar made the decision to kick out Hamas after a request from the US to do so. The diplomatic source said the decision to close the office was made independently, not due to US pressure.
The closure of the office’s operations may cause Hamas officials to leave Qatar, but they have not been given a deadline or ultimatum, the diplomat said.
When CNN asked the White House National Security Council for clarification Saturday, the council declined to comment and referred to what a senior administration official said Friday.
“After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner,” a senior administration official told CNN on Friday, referring to Hamas.
“Qatar has played an invaluable role in helping to mediate a hostage deal and was instrumental in securing the release of nearly 200 hostages last year. However, following Hamas’ repeated refusal to release even a small number of hostages, including most recently during meetings in Cairo, their continued presence in Doha is no longer viable or acceptable,” the official said.
Qatari spokesperson Al-Ansari referred to “inaccurate” reporting in his Saturday statement.
A Hamas official told CNN earlier Saturday that reports of the group’s departure from Doha were “baseless” and a “pressure tactic.”
Throughout the course of the war and negotiations to bring the hostages home, US officials have asked Qatar to use the threat of expulsion as leverage in their talks with Hamas. The final impetus for Qatar agreeing to kick Hamas out came recently after the death of Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Hamas’ rejection of yet another ceasefire proposal.
The Hamas office could reopen “when both sides demonstrate a sincere willingness to return to the negotiating table with the objective of putting an end to the war,” the diplomatic source said.
In April, Doha made a similar move in temporarily closing the Hamas office. Officials then left Qatar and went to Turkey. As talks faltered, the Biden administration and Israel asked Doha to bring them back, the diplomat told CNN.
CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman, Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
