Pressure from the USA
Qatar apparently throws Hamas leadership out of the country
November 9, 2024 – 12:52 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
After military strikes against Hamas, the pressure on the terrorist organization’s political representatives is now growing. You’ll probably have to find a new place to live.
The US is putting pressure on Qatar to kick the Hamas leadership out of Doha. The background is that the terrorist group has rejected recent proposals for a ceasefire and the return of the hostages. Qatar had provided shelter to the political Hamas leadership for years, and many negotiations were also held in Doha. The Reuters news agency is now reporting on the US government’s demands on Qatar and is citing statements from a government representative.
The small Gulf state of Qatar, which, together with the USA and Egypt, has played a central role in negotiating a ceasefire in the year-long conflict in the Gaza Strip, was also unable to reach an agreement in the last round of negotiations in mid-October. Hamas rejected an offer for a short-term ceasefire.
“After repeatedly rejecting proposals to release hostages, Hamas leaders should no longer be welcome in any capital of an American partner. We made this clear to Qatar after Hamas rejected another offer to release the hostages weeks ago,” the government official said. who wanted to remain anonymous.
Qatar then asked the Hamas leadership to leave the country, the official added. Washington remains in talks with Qatar to coordinate the timing of the closure of Hamas’s political office in Doha and has signaled to the Qatari government that now is the right moment.
However, three Hamas officials denied that Qatar had told Hamas leaders that they must leave the country. A spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was initially unclear whether Qatar had given Hamas representatives a specific deadline to leave the country.
Qatar, an influential Gulf state described by Washington as a key non-NATO ally, has hosted Hamas’ political leadership since 2012 under a deal with the United States.
After the attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told leaders in Qatar and elsewhere in the region that it was “not business as usual “with Hamas.
After the October 7 attack in southern Israel last year, in which Hamas terrorists killed 200 people and kidnapped 250 others, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told leaders in Qatar and elsewhere in the region that Hamas ” There could no longer be “business as usual”. The Qataris told Blinken they were prepared to reconsider Hamas’s presence in the country in due course.
President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing to make a final attempt to end Israeli attacks in Gaza and Lebanon. However, the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the USA has significantly weakened Biden’s influence in his final weeks in office.
In previous rounds of ceasefire negotiations, an agreement failed due to new demands from Israel regarding a future military presence in the Gaza Strip, even after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire offer presented by Biden in May.
