DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar is reassessing its role as mediator in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, fearing its efforts could be undermined by politicians seeking to score points, its government said on Wednesday. Prime Minister.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also foreign minister, said there was “misuse of this mediation for narrow political interests, which forced Qatar to undertake an assessment complete this role.
Sheikh Mohammed did not identify any politician by name.
The Qatari Embassy in Washington on Tuesday criticized comments by Democratic US Congressman Steny Hoyer, in which he called on the United States to “reevaluate” its relationship with Qatar.
Hoyer said Monday that Qatar should threaten Hamas with “repercussions” if the Palestinian militant group “continues to block progress toward the release of the hostages and the establishment of a temporary ceasefire.”
Some other U.S. lawmakers have suggested in recent months that Qatar supports Hamas, an accusation rejected by the Gulf state, which hosts some 10,000 U.S. troops, the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East.
Sheikh Mohammed stressed on Wednesday that the role of the mediator has limits: “(Mediators) cannot provide things that the parties themselves refrain from (proposing).”
Earlier on Wednesday, Sheikh Mohammed said negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages were in a “delicate phase.”
“We are trying as much as possible to remedy this stumbling block,” he added, without giving further details.
Qatar’s prime minister also condemned what he described as a policy of “collective punishment” carried out by Israel in its war in Gaza against Hamas as well as the latest escalation of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The ceasefire talks, brokered by Qatar and Egypt, are taking place against the backdrop of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where Palestinians are suffering severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials .
The war was sparked when Hamas attacked southern Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages in the enclave, according to Israeli counts.
Israel responded by bombing Gaza in an air and ground offensive that killed nearly 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills, Yomna Ehab, Muhammad Al Gebaly, Clauda Tanios and Jana Choukeir; editing by Mark Heinrich and Gareth Jones)
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