Qatar suspends mediation efforts on Gaza conflict

Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, officials said.

It is not immediately clear whether the remaining Hamas leadership hosted by Qatar must leave, or where it would go. Hamas has good relations with Iran and Turkey, and some of its leaders are now in Lebanon.

However, Qatar is highly likely to return to ceasefire efforts if both sides show “serious political willingness” to reach a deal on the war in Gaza, according to one spokesperson.

A diplomatic source said both Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, were informed after the decision was made.

Qatar told Israel and Hamas it cannot continue to mediate “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith” and “as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar, a diplomatic source said.

Hamas was told by Qatar it will have to leave if it is not ready to engage in serious negotiations, the source added.

In Washington, a US official said the Biden administration informed Qatar two weeks ago that the Hamas office’s continued operation in Doha was no longer useful and the Hamas delegation should be expelled.

A senior US official said that after Hamas rejected the last proposal for a ceasefire, Qatar accepted the advice and informed the Hamas delegation of the decision 10 days ago.

A senior Hamas official said they were aware of Qatar’s decision to suspend mediation efforts, “but no-one told us to leave”.

Hamas has repeatedly called for an end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as a condition for any ceasefire deal. Israel seeks the return of all hostages taken in Hamas’ October 7 2023 attack on Israel and insists on a presence in Gaza.

The announcement comes after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a ceasefire deal.

Earlier, three separate Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people including women and children in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said.

There is no end in sight to Israel’s campaigns against Hamas militants in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israel’s military said that it struck command centres and other militant infrastructure overnight in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

One of the strikes hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighbourhood, killing at least six people, Gaza’s health ministry said.

Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead.

The Israeli army said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, offering no evidence or further detail.

Another seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering, according to a Nasser Hospital spokesperson.

It said the dead included two women and a child. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the blast.

Meanwhile, Palestinian medical officials said an Israeli strike hit tents in the courtyard of central Gaza’s main hospital, including one serving as a police point.

At least three people were killed and a local journalist was hurt, Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah said. It was the eighth Israeli attack on the compound since March.

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, said on Saturday that 11 aid trucks containing food, water and medical equipment had reached the far north of the enclave, including the urban refugee camp at Jabaliya.

It is the first time any aid has reached the area since Israel began a fresh military campaign there last month.

But not all the aid reached the agreed drop-off points, according to a spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme, which was involved in the delivery process.

In Jabaliya, Israeli troops stopped one of the convoys bound for nearby Beit Lahiya and ordered the supplies to be offloaded, said Alia Zaki.

The announcement comes days a ahead of a US deadline demanding that Israel improve aid deliveries across Gaza. Experts have said there is a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza.

Israel’s new offensive has focusing on Jabaliya, a densely populated refugee camp where Israel says Hamas had regrouped. Other areas affected by the new campaign include Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, situated just north of Gaza City.

The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people remain in the area. Earlier this week, the Gaza Health Ministry said there were no ambulances or emergency crews operating north of Gaza City.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli army has struck several schools and tent camps, packed with tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders.

The conflict has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to UN figures.

The military has accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, UN facilities and hospitals.

In July, Israeli air strikes hit a girls’ school in Gaza’s central city of Deir al-Balah, killing at least 30 people sheltering inside. Israel’s military said it targeted a Hamas command centre used to direct attacks against its troops and store “large quantities of weapons”.

More than a year of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say.

They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but say more than half of those killed were women and children.

The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.