Qatar Abandons Mediation Between Israel and Hamas

Hopes of reaching a diplomatic agreement in the Middle East conflict, if they ever existed, vanished definitively this Saturday. Qatar informed Israel and Hamas that it is withdrawing from the mediation role it has played for more than a year to try to broker a truce in Gaza. Months of fruitless efforts and a sense of frustration are left behind. Only Donald Trump can end the war, and nothing suggests that his intervention will be impartial. "As long as both parties refuse to negotiate a good faith agreement, we cannot continue to play the role of mediator," a diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity.

Along with the United States and Egypt, Qatar was trying to establish a ceasefire and an agreement to exchange hostages and prisoners, but the talks have reached a deadlock that seems impossible to overcome because both Hamas and Israel accuse each other of blocking dialogue. However, the Qataris told the U.S. administration that they would be willing to re-engage when both parties show a sincere willingness to return to the negotiating table.

Qatar, which has no political relations with Israel, throws in the towel to the point that it has even informed the Palestinian radical group that its office in Doha, the capital of the monarchy, "no longer has a reason to exist" without explicitly stating whether it will be closed. The wealthy emirate has hosted the political headquarters of the Islamic Movement's diaspora for more than ten years.

It was also in that country where former chief Ismail Haniyeh lived, assassinated on July 31 in an attack in Tehran attributed to Mossad. Other political leaders of the group, such as former chief Khaled Mashaal or the head of its negotiating team, Jalil al-Haya, still reside in Doha.

The Hamas office in Qatar was "opened in 2012 in coordination with the White House at its request to have a communication channel," explained a Qatari official at the start of the war on October 7, 2023. The government of the absolutist monarchy ruled by the Al-Thani family since the mid-19th century is an ally of Washington and has played an important mediating role along with Egypt and the United States in negotiations for a truce in Gaza.

This mediation only achieved a one-week truce at the end of November 2023, and negotiations have been stalled since last August due to mutual accusations between Israel and Hamas of obstructing the achievement of an understanding.

The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, expressed this week to the future U.S. President, Donald Trump, his hope that Washington and Doha "advance in shared efforts to promote security and stability both in the Middle East region and globally."