Qatar: Ready to resume mediation in Gaza negotiations if concerned parties are serious

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday that his country is ready to resume its mediation in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to cease fire in the Gaza Strip "if there is seriousness from the parties" concerned.

Al-Ansari explained, according to what was reported by the Qatari Al Jazeera channel, that "Hamas negotiating leaders are not currently in Doha, and are moving between different capitals," noting that "if the Hamas political office is closed, the Qatari Foreign Ministry will announce it, and not through other means."

He added: "The suspension of Qatari mediation efforts was due to the lack of seriousness of the parties," stressing that Doha "will not accept being exploited for political purposes."

Al-Ansari said: "Doha is ready to resume negotiations if there is seriousness from the parties," stressing that "the Qatari position is firm and clear, which is to cease fire and bring aid into the Gaza Strip."

On November 9, Al-Ansari confirmed in a statement to the Qatar News Agency that the reports circulating about its withdrawal from mediation regarding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were “inaccurate.”

He explained at the time that "Qatar notified the parties 10 days ago during the last attempts to reach an agreement that it would suspend its mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached in that round."

The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman added that Qatar confirmed at the time that it "will resume mediation efforts with partners when the necessary seriousness is available to end the brutal Israeli war and the ongoing suffering of civilians due to the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the Strip."

Al-Ansari continued: "Qatar will then be at the forefront of making every good effort to end the war and return the hostages and prisoners."

At the time, Al-Ansari confirmed that "the reports regarding the Hamas office in Doha are inaccurate," explaining that "the main goal of its presence in Qatar is to be a channel of communication between the concerned parties."

He pointed out that "this channel (Hamas' office) achieved a ceasefire in several previous stages, and contributed to maintaining the calm until the exchange of prisoners and hostages of women and children in November of last year."

Despite the continuation of Qatari and Egyptian mediation efforts for several months, and the presentation of one agreement proposal after another to end the Israeli genocide in Gaza and exchange prisoners, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s retreat from the terms that were agreed upon during some stages of the mediation, and his setting of new conditions for accepting the agreement, led to the obstruction of these efforts.

Netanyahu's conditions include "continuing control over the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Rafah crossing in Gaza, and preventing the return of Palestinian faction fighters to northern Gaza (by inspecting returnees through the Netzarim corridor in the middle of the Strip)."

For its part, Hamas insists on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and a complete cessation of war in order to accept any agreement. Israel estimates that there are 101 prisoners in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced that dozens of them were killed in random Israeli raids.

Israel has been waging a war of genocide on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, which has resulted in the killing and wounding of about 147,000 Palestinians. Since September 23, Tel Aviv has expanded the scope of the genocide to include most areas of Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, through air strikes, and has also begun a ground invasion in the south.

Source: Anadolu Agency