Qatar is halting its mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas, officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Qatar has decided to suspend its main mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, officials said Saturday, after growing frustration over the lack of progress in reaching a ceasefire for Gaza.

It was not immediately clear whether the remaining Hamas leadership, hosted by Qatar, would have to leave.

However, it is highly likely that Qatar will resume its efforts if both sides show “serious political willingness” to reach an agreement, according to an official with Egypt, the other main mediator.

Qatar told Israel and Hamas that it cannot continue to mediate “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith” and “as a result, Hamas’s political office no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar, a diplomatic body. source briefed on this said. Qatar told Hamas it will have to leave if it is not ready to engage in serious negotiations, the source said.

In Washington, a US official said the Biden administration had informed Qatar two weeks ago that the continuation of Hamas’s office in Doha was no longer useful and that the Hamas delegation should be expelled.

A senior US official said this after Hamas rejected the proposal final proposal for a ceasefireQatar accepted the advice and informed the Hamas delegation of the decision ten days ago.

A senior Hamas official said they were aware of Qatar’s decision to suspend mediation efforts, “but no one told us to leave.” Hamas has repeatedly called for an end to the war and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as a condition for a ceasefire. Israel demands the return of all hostages and insists on a presence in Gaza.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. The Israeli prime minister’s office had no comment.

There was still no end in sight Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the Israeli army said it attacked command centers and other militant infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight. An Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Tyre At least seven people were killed Friday evening, officials and one resident said.

Hezbollah “must continue the fight and we will continue to support them even if we lose our families and homes and end up in the mud,” Beirut resident Mohammed Mekdad said as people sifted through the smoking rubble.

In Gaza on Saturday, three separate Israeli attacks killed at least 16 people, including women and children, Palestinian medical officials said, as Israel announced the first strike. delivery of humanitarian aid in weeks to the hungry, devastated north of the area.

One of the attacks struck a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighborhood, killing at least six people, the area’s health ministry said. The dead included two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child, the report said. The Israeli military said the attack targeted a militant belonging to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, without providing any evidence or details.

Nasser Hospital said seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern town of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering. It said the dead included two women and a child. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

And Palestinian medical officials said an Israeli strike hit tents in the courtyard of central Gaza’s main hospital, including one that served as a police point. At least three people were killed and a local journalist was injured, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah said. It was the eighth Israeli attack on the compound since March.

Israel says aid trucks are reaching northern Gaza

The Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said on Saturday that 11 aid trucks carrying food, water and medical equipment reached the far north of the enclave on Thursday. It is the first time that any aid has reached the far north since Israel began a new military campaign there last month.

But not all the aid reached the agreed delivery points, according to the UN World Food Program, which was involved in the delivery process. In the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, Israeli forces stopped a convoy heading to nearby Beit Lahiya and ordered the supplies to be unloaded, WFP spokesperson Alia Zaki said.

The Israeli offensive focused on Jabaliya, where Israel says Hamas had regrouped. Other affected areas include Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, just north of Gaza City.

The US deadline for Israel is approaching

The aid announcement came days before a US deadline demand that Israel improve aid deliveries throughout Gaza or risk losing access to them US arms financing.

The US says Israel should allow at least 350 trucks a day carrying food and other supplies.

Meanwhile, a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, issued on Thursday said the likelihood of this happening is high famine threatens in parts of northern Gaza, the region’s most isolated area.

COGAT rejected the IPC’s findings, saying the report was based “on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”

There are no emergency services north of Gaza City

The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people remain in northern Gaza. Earlier this week, the Health Ministry said there were no ambulances or emergency services operating north of Gaza City.

According to UN figures, 90% of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced by the conflict. The Israeli army has hit several schools and tent camps where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders.

The military has accused Hamas of operating from civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, UN facilities and hospitals.

More than a year of war in Gaza has left more than 43,000 people dead, Palestinian health officials say. They make no distinction between civilians and fighters, but say more than half of the dead were women and children.

The war started after that Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapping 250 others.

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