Qataris ‘hit back’ at critics of Gaza mediation

Criticism of Qatar over its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas has prompted a rare pushback from the Gulf state against its opponents, analysts said.

Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political leadership since 2012 with the blessing of the United States, has been engaged in behind-the-scenes talks for months about a possible ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. held. prisons.

But now that talks have stalled, and in light of calls – mainly from Israel and the United States – for Qatar to put pressure on Hamas, the gas-rich emirate has warned it could walk away as a mediator.

This week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said the decision to reevaluate his role was driven by frustration over political attacks, including from figures in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“They all know what Qatar’s role is, its nature and its details during the previous phase and they lied,” the Qatari spokesman said, referring to the week-long ceasefire in November when dozens of Israeli and foreign hostages were taken released thanks to Doha mediation.

Neil Quilliam, a Middle East analyst, said Qatar’s response violated the norms of mediation.

“Mediators usually don’t hit back,” the Chatham House specialist told AFP.

– ‘End of their chain’ –

The Qataris “have taken so many blows from the Israelis, Netanyahu directly, and members of the (US) Congress, that as I look at it, they are just at the end of their rope,” Quilliam said.

Geopolitical expert James Dorsey called Qatar’s response a “fight back.”

It was also “stunning for one of the parties that supposedly needs that mediation to attack the mediator,” he said, referring to the Israeli criticism.

In January, Qatar said Netanyahu had damaged negotiations when leaked recordings emerged of the Israeli prime minister calling Doha a “problematic” mediator because of its relationship with Hamas.

A month later, Netanyahu, in a speech to American Jewish leaders, said Qatar should be pressured to push Hamas to release Israeli hostages, claiming the group is financially dependent on the Gulf state.

Ansari responded to .

The war began when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in some 1,170 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.

The Israeli army has waged a retaliatory offensive against Hamas, killing more than 34,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, in Hamas-held territory, according to the Health Ministry.

– ‘Core interests’ –

Palestinian militants seized about 250 Israeli and foreign hostages during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, but dozens were released during the weeklong ceasefire in November.

Israel estimates that 129 people remain in Gaza, including 34 people the army says are dead.

Dorsey said Qatar’s response was mainly aimed at critics from the United States, which “really affects Qatar’s core interests” because Doha’s close relationship with Washington was “one of the security lines.”

The Gulf monarchy hosts the largest US military base in the region and has been designated by Washington as a major non-NATO ally.

Earlier this month, the Qatari embassy in Washington issued a statement rebuking Democratic lawmaker Steny Hoyer over his calls for the United States to reevaluate its relationship with Qatar.

In November, Qatar’s ambassador to Washington argued with Republican Senator Ted Budd, who asked how long Doha would continue to host Hamas, whom he called “terrorists with American blood on their hands.”

This week, Ansari said that Hamas’s political leadership would remain in Doha as long as their presence remains conducive to mediation.

However, he added that a final decision on remaining Hamas policies is still open to reassessment as Qatar considers its role.

Raising the possibility of Hamas leaving was a “strategic stance,” Quilliam said.

Qatar, he said, had indicated it could “walk away… knowing that the US would not want this to happen or for this to happen.”

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