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Haaretz: Analysis Qatar's Withdrawal as Mediator With Hamas Exempts Israel From Pursuing a Hostage Deal
Haaretz - (archived: https://archive.ph/qjQ7G ) Analysis | Qatar's Withdrawal as Mediator With Hamas Exempts Israel From Pursuing a Hostage Deal
The move effectively means there is no longer a channel of communication between Israel and Hamas. Qatar wants to cast blame equally on both sides and force the United States to pressure Israel the way it has demanded Qatar pressure Hamas
Zvi Bar'el
Nov 10, 2024
1:00 pm IST
Qatar's official announcement that it is withdrawing as a mediator in the cease-fire and hostage talks between Israel and Hamas should come as no surprise. Doha said already in May it would reconsider its third-party role in light of the deadlocked negotiations. It seems to have concluded there is no longer any benefit not only in its mediation but also to the talks themselves as long as neither side is willing to compromise.
Israel and Hamas now lack any effective communications channel. Israel has claimed military pressure is the only possible means to a deal and has tried to exert pressure on Qatar. While the assassinations of senior Hamas officials, chief among them Yahya Sinwar, may have helped raise Israeli morale and rocked Hamas' power structure, none of this pressure has brought about a hostage release, one of Irael's objectives of the war.
Qatar's decision comes soon after the U.S. leak about the Biden administration's demand that Doha expel Hamas leaders from its territory. That demand sounded like a new cover of an old song that used to thrill. Once again, Hamas denies having received an eviction notice. As early as last November, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reported that he had spoken with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as prime minister, about the possibility of removing the Hamas leadership to pressure it to reach a hostage deal. Qatar said then that it was exploring the option.
The hypothesis at the time was that Doha wasn't putting enough pressure on Hamas, despite holding the strategic lever as host of the organization's leadership. But Qatar made it clear early on that the threat of expulsion was not an option because Hamas leaders outside of Gaza lacked real power to convince Sinwar to change his positions absent Israeli agreement to end the fighting and withdraw from Gaza. At best, it could mediate and try to persuade.
/snip
The move effectively means there is no longer a channel of communication between Israel and Hamas. Qatar wants to cast blame equally on both sides and force the United States to pressure Israel the way it has demanded Qatar pressure Hamas
Zvi Bar'el
Nov 10, 2024
1:00 pm IST
Qatar's official announcement that it is withdrawing as a mediator in the cease-fire and hostage talks between Israel and Hamas should come as no surprise. Doha said already in May it would reconsider its third-party role in light of the deadlocked negotiations. It seems to have concluded there is no longer any benefit not only in its mediation but also to the talks themselves as long as neither side is willing to compromise.
Israel and Hamas now lack any effective communications channel. Israel has claimed military pressure is the only possible means to a deal and has tried to exert pressure on Qatar. While the assassinations of senior Hamas officials, chief among them Yahya Sinwar, may have helped raise Israeli morale and rocked Hamas' power structure, none of this pressure has brought about a hostage release, one of Irael's objectives of the war.
Qatar's decision comes soon after the U.S. leak about the Biden administration's demand that Doha expel Hamas leaders from its territory. That demand sounded like a new cover of an old song that used to thrill. Once again, Hamas denies having received an eviction notice. As early as last November, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reported that he had spoken with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as prime minister, about the possibility of removing the Hamas leadership to pressure it to reach a hostage deal. Qatar said then that it was exploring the option.
The hypothesis at the time was that Doha wasn't putting enough pressure on Hamas, despite holding the strategic lever as host of the organization's leadership. But Qatar made it clear early on that the threat of expulsion was not an option because Hamas leaders outside of Gaza lacked real power to convince Sinwar to change his positions absent Israeli agreement to end the fighting and withdraw from Gaza. At best, it could mediate and try to persuade.
/snip