Qatar is crucial intermediary in Israel-Hamas war

Qataran oil-rich country, has become a key intermediary for the fate of some 200 hostages held by the militants of Hamas since his unprecedented attack on Israel. Once again, the small country on the Arabian Peninsula is in the spotlight.

The negotiations also force Qatar to perform a delicate international balancing act of maintaining a relationship with those considered militants by the West while maintaining its close security relations with the United States.

Under agreements stemming from previous ceasefires between Hamas and Israel, the gas-rich emirate has paid the salaries of public employees in the Gaza Strip, sent money to poor families and offered other humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

Qatar has hosted Hamas’s political office in Doha, its capital, for more than a decade. One of the resident officials there is Khaled Mashaal, an exiled Hamas member who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan that threatened to derail that country’s peace deal with Israel. Another is Ismail Haniyeh, the supreme leader of Hamas.

The United States sanctioned Mashaal in 2003 for being “responsible for overseeing operations of assassinations, explosions and the death of Israeli settlers” Washington sanctioned Haniyeh in 2018 for maintaining “close ties with the military wing of Hamas and being a promoter of armed struggle, including against civilians.”

In an interview with Sky News this week, Mashaal said the hostages taken during the Hamas attack on October 7 could be freed if Israel stops its airstrikes, something incredibly unlikely as Israel prepares a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military command says that some 222 people, including some foreigners, were captured by Hamas during its raid and taken to Gaza. Four have been released, a woman and her daughter on Friday and two others on Monday.

“Stop this aggression and mediators like Qatar and Egypt and some Arab countries and others will be found who will find a way to achieve their freedom and we will send them to their homes.””Mashaal said.

Hosting Hamas leaders has drawn attention to Qatar, both in the past and since the attack two weeks ago that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.

President Joe Biden’s administration has heaped praise on Qatar for its efforts to free the hostages, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Doha during his recent diplomatic trip to the region.

Meanwhile, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, channeled the fury of the Arab world at the incessant air raids and siege of the Gaza Strip since October 7. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says the attacks have killed more than 5,000 Palestinians so far.

Source: AP