Qatar has suspended its mediation between Israel and Palestinian Hamas after months of unsuccessful efforts to end the devastating war in the Gaza Strip and free the hostages, a diplomatic source said on Saturday.
He also indicated that the political office of the Islamist movement in Doha had “no longer any reason to exist”, added the same source, without explicitly saying whether the office would be closed.
With the United States and Egypt, Qatar had mediated between the two belligerents since a single truce in the conflict in November 2023 which lasted a week and allowed the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for prisoners. Palestinians detained by Israel.
Hamas and Israel accuse each other of blocking any agreement for a ceasefire in the war triggered on October 7, 2023 by an attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against southern Israel, during which hostages were taken to the neighboring Gaza Strip.
“The Qataris have informed the American administration that they would be ready to engage again in mediation when both parties (…) demonstrate a sincere desire to return to the negotiating table,” indicated the diplomatic source on condition of anonymity.
They also “informed the Israelis and Hamas that as long as both sides refuse to negotiate an agreement in good faith, they cannot continue to play the role of mediator. As a result, the Hamas political office (in Doha) “no longer has its reason for being,” she continued.
– “That’s enough!”
Reached by telephone by AFP in Qatar, a Hamas official said on condition of anonymity that his movement had received “no request to leave Qatar.”
Meanwhile, the war knows no respite in the Palestinian territory, where the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants are besieged and live in disastrous conditions according to the UN.
On Saturday, five Palestinians died in an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City (north) transformed into a shelter for displaced people and nine in a strike on tents for displaced people in Khan Younes (south), according to Civil Defense.
In Deir el-Balah (center), an Israeli strike hit the area around the Al-Aqsa martyrs’ hospital, damaging displaced people’s tents, according to AFPTV images.
“Enough, these massacres, these martyrs and these wars! How much longer will this last? Enough! We are exhausted,” says Oum Mohammad, a displaced person living in a tent near the hospital.
– “Famine thresholds crossed?” –
The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity.
That day, 251 people were kidnapped. In total, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive left 43,552 people dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas Health Ministry.
On Saturday, the UN warned in a report that “starvation thresholds may already have been crossed or will be crossed in the near future” in Gaza.
A report deemed “partial and biased” by Israel.
“We will not stop (…) It is about bringing back the hostages and ensuring the safety of the surrounding communities” in southern Israel, declared Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi during a trip to Jabalia in northern Gaza, according to a press release.
– 31 dead in Lebanon –
In support of Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah opened a front against Israel on October 8, 2023. After nearly a year of cross-border shooting, the situation degenerated into open war on September 23.
Since then, the Israeli army has been carrying out a campaign of intense strikes in Lebanon, mainly against Hezbollah strongholds, and since September 30 a ground offensive in the south of the country, bordering northern Israel.
Israel says it wants to neutralize Hezbollah in the border regions of southern Lebanon to allow the return home of 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by Hezbollah fire.
On Saturday, at least 20 people were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon and 11 others, including six rescue workers affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal, in raids in the south of the country, according to the Health Ministry .
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for rocket attacks against northern Israel.
More than 2,700 people have died in Lebanon since September 23, the majority civilians, according to the Ministry of Health.
In this explosive context, Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel, its enemy, warned: “if the war spreads, its harmful effects will not be limited only to the Middle East.”
