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Qatar has advised the leaders of Hamas to go away the nation following strain from Washington, in a major shift in coverage by the Gulf state.
The request was made round 10 days in the past after intense discussions with US officers, in keeping with one individual aware of the matter.
The gas-rich state has hosted Hamas’s political workplace in its capital, Doha, since 2012, when Syria’s civil battle pressured it to go away its base in Damascus, and the US requested Qatar to open a channel of communication with the Palestinian group.
Doha grew to become an important interlocutor in hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas following the militant group’s lethal assault on southern Israel in October 2023, through which it killed 1,200 Israelis and took greater than 250 hostage, in keeping with Israeli officers.
Israel’s ensuing offensive in Gaza has killed greater than 43,000 Palestinians, in keeping with Palestinian officers.
Greater than 100 Israeli hostages have been freed in a deal final 12 months that Qatar helped dealer. However the talks have since been deadlocked, and Doha was advised that after the failure of “repeated proposals to launch hostages, [Hamas’s] leaders ought to now not be welcome within the capitals of any American accomplice”, stated a senior Biden administration official.
“We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas’s rejection weeks in the past of one other hostage launch proposal,” the official stated.
The official added that whereas Qatar had performed a key position in attempting to barter a ceasefire and the discharge of the remaining Israeli hostages held by the militant group over the previous 12 months, “following Hamas’s repeated refusal to launch even a small variety of hostages, together with most just lately throughout conferences in Cairo, their continued presence in Doha is now not viable or acceptable”.
An individual aware of the matter stated Hamas figures in Qatar would relocate to Turkey. The nation has lengthy harboured Hamas political operatives and for the reason that begin of the battle in Gaza, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been vocal in his help for the group.
Turkey’s international ministry didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Lately, Qatar has poured hundreds of thousands of {dollars} into Gaza — which Hamas has ruled because it seized management of the enclave in 2007 — to pay the salaries of civil servants and help struggling Palestinian households.
The nation’s picture was tarnished by its relationship with Hamas after the October 7 assault. However its position as a mediator in ceasefire talks attracted worldwide reward, and it efficiently brokered the discharge final 12 months of the greater than 100 Israeli hostages in alternate for 240 Palestinian girls and kids held in Israeli jails.
However, pissed off by either side’ intransigence within the talks to finish the battle in Gaza and criticism of Qatar by politicians within the US and elsewhere, Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani stated in April that Doha was re-evaluating its position as mediator.
An Arab diplomat stated Hamas officers had just lately visited nations together with Turkey, Iran, Algeria and Mauritania, and mentioned the potential of relocating.
“Qatar hosted Hamas leaders within the first place after they bought a inexperienced gentle from the Individuals. It’s logical to attempt to eliminate them when the US place adjustments,” the diplomat stated.
Extra reporting by Adam Samson in Ankara
