Qatar’s patience appears to have reached its limit. While the country has been participating for months with the United States and Egypt in negotiations between Israel and Hamas with the aim of concluding a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, associated with the release of hostages, Doha announced on Saturday, November 9 which suspended its mediation, referring the belligerents to their responsibilities.
At the end of October, “during the last [négociations] In an attempt to reach an agreement, Qatar informed the parties that it intended to suspend its mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached during this round.Qatari Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement. “Qatar will accept them when the parties demonstrate will and seriousness” end hostilities, he added, while Hamas and Israel accuse each other of blocking any agreement.
The only truce in this war, triggered on October 7, 2023 by a Hamas attack against Israel, saw the light of day at the end of November 2023. It lasted a week and allowed the release of the hostages kidnapped during the attack and taken to the Strip. from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Hamas office remains open in Doha
Doha points out that it has prepared the ground for such a decision. According to a diplomatic source, the Qataris had previously “informed the Israelis and Hamas that as long as both sides refused to negotiate an agreement in good faith, they could no longer play the role of mediators”.
Furthermore, they “have indicated to the US administration that they would be willing to resume mediation when both parties (…) “will demonstrate a sincere desire to return to the negotiating table.”added this source.
According to the Qatari Foreign Affairs spokesman, there is no question of closing the Hamas office in Doha, whose objective “It has to be a communication channel between interested parties”.
Famine thresholds “could be surpassed” in Gaza, says UN
Meanwhile, at 400my Since the beginning of the conflict unleashed by Hamas, the war has known no truce in the Gaza Strip, where some 2.4 million inhabitants are besieged and live in disastrous conditions, according to the United Nations (UN). On Saturday, fourteen Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on sites housing displaced people in Gaza City and Khan Younes, according to the civil defense.
The attack by the Islamist movement Hamas on October 7, 2023 led to the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity. That day 251 people were kidnapped. In total, 97 remain hostages in the Gaza Strip, 34 of them declared dead by the army. The Israeli retaliatory offensive left 43,552 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas Health Ministry.
On Saturday, the UN warned in a report that “It is possible that famine thresholds have already been exceeded or will be exceeded in the near future” in Gaza. A judged report ” biased “ for Israel.
“We will not stop (…) It’s about recovering the hostages. (…) »declared the Israeli Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, during a trip to Jabaliya, in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Exchanges of fire continue between Israel and Hezbollah
The Israeli army is also continuing its offensive in Lebanon, where it claims to target Hamas ally Hezbollah. On Saturday, twenty people were killed in Israeli attacks in the east of the country and another thirteen, including seven first responders affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal, in raids in the south of the country, according to the Health Ministry. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on northern Israel.
More than 2,700 people have died in Lebanon since September 23, most of them civilians, according to the Ministry of Health.
Israel says it wants to neutralize Hezbollah in Lebanon’s southern border regions to allow the return home of 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced for a year by the conflict.
