Qatar withdraws mediation between Israel and Hamas, diplomatic source says

Qatar has withdrawn its mediation between Israel and Palestinian Hamas after months of unsuccessful efforts to end the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, a diplomatic source said on Saturday.

He also indicated that the political office of the Islamist movement in Doha “no longer has any reason to exist,” the same source added, without explicitly saying whether the office would be closed.

Along with the United States and Egypt, Qatar had mediated between the two belligerents since a single truce in the conflict in November 2023 that lasted a week and allowed the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Hamas and Israel accuse each other of blocking any agreement, each side refusing the other's conditions for a ceasefire in the war triggered on October 7, 2023 by an attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against Israel.

“The Qataris have informed the US administration that they are ready to engage in mediation again when both sides (…) demonstrate a sincere willingness to return to the negotiating table,” the diplomatic source said 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 will not be able to continue to play the role of mediator. Consequently, the Hamas political bureau (in Doha) no longer has any reason to exist,” she continued.

– “No demand” –

Protesters hold placards during an anti-war demonstration in the Gaza Strip, in the Israeli-Arab city of Umm al-Fahm, on November 9, 2024 © AFP – AHMAD GHARABLI

A Hamas official said his movement had received “no request to leave Qatar.” “We have nothing to confirm or deny what was published by an unidentified diplomatic source,” said the Hamas official from Doha, contacted by telephone by AFP.

Meanwhile, the war continues in the Palestinian territory, where the Civil Defense announced the death of 14 people, killed in two Israeli strikes on Saturday.

According to the spokesman for the Civil Defense of Gaza, Mahmoud Bassal, a strike on the Fahad al-Sabah school in Gaza City (north), where displaced people are taking refuge, left “five dead, including children”. Another Israeli strike “on tents of displaced people in Khan Younis” (south) left “nine dead”.

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The unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 in southern Israel resulted in the death of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or who died in captivity.

People surround the body of a man killed in a strike that hit tents in the central Gaza Strip, November 9, 2024 © AFP – Eyad BABA

On that day, 251 people were kidnapped. In total, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.

The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation in the Gaza Strip has left 43,552 dead, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, and caused a humanitarian disaster.

– Strikes in Lebanon –

A man takes a photo of a building hit by a strike during a tour organized by the Hezbollah press office to sites of overnight bombings that targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, November 9, 2024 © AFP – –

The war has spread to Lebanon, after Lebanese Hezbollah opened a front against Israel the day after October 7, 2023, in support of Hamas.

Since September 23, the Israeli army has been conducting a campaign of intense deadly strikes in Lebanon, and since September 30 a ground offensive in the south of the country, bordering northern Israel.

Israel says it wants to neutralize Hezbollah to allow the return home of 60,000 inhabitants of the north of its territory displaced by incessant rocket fire since the start of the war in Gaza.

On Saturday, the Health Ministry announced in a new report that seven people, including two girls, had been killed the day before in airstrikes on Tyre (south), after bodies were removed from the rubble.

Hezbollah has claimed several attacks against northern Israel.

More than 2,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23, the majority civilians, according to the Health Ministry.

The Israeli army announced that it had struck “more than 50 terrorist targets in Lebanon and Gaza” in the last 24 hours.

Smoke rises from a building heavily damaged by a strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, November 9, 2024 © AFP – –

In this explosive context, Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel, its enemy, has warned of the risk of the war spilling over.

“The world must know that if the war spreads, its harmful effects will not be limited to the Middle East alone,” warned Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

All rights reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse