Qatar\u2019s prime minister says there has been \u2018abuse and harm\u2019 done related to Doha\u2019s mediation efforts
\nDoha
\nQatar\u2019s prime minister has said Doha is re-evaluating its role as a mediator in negotiations aimed at bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli captives, adding that some parties have used the mediation for \u201cnarrow political interest\u201d.
\nSpeaking at a joint news conference with Turkey\u2019s foreign minister in Qatar\u2019s capital on Wednesday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said that while his government remains committed to mediation between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas on a \u201chumanitarian basis\u201d, there has been \u201cabuse and harm\u201d done related to Doha\u2019s role.
\nSome parties have made \u201cdestructive\u201d statements against Qatar, he said, without specifying to whom he was referring. The comments came a day after US lawmaker Steny Hoyer accused Qatar of siding with Hamas and said Washington would re-evaluate its ties with Doha if it does not pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal advanced by Israel.
\nQatari mediators earlier warned that talks on a truce in Gaza had hit a \u201cstumbling block\u201d.
\nThe negotiations to end the fighting and secure the release of captives are at a \u201cdelicate phase,\u201d Sheikh Mohammed said at a news conference alongside Romanian counterpart Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. \u201cWe are trying as much as possible to address this stumbling block\u201d, he said.
\nQatar has been working to try to mediate a deal throughout the six months of fighting in Gaza. However, there is still no sign of any breakthrough in the negotiations, as Israel and Hamas each refuse to move on conditions the other side declares unacceptable.
\nAs the longwinded talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, continue, the Israeli military has continued deadly operations inside the enclave, which remains blockaded.
\nClose to 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, while the 2.3-million-strong population have been left in dire conditions, amid shortages of food, shelter and medicine.
\nMeanwhile, the armed Hamas group continues to hold more than 100 captives taken from Israel during its raid across the enclave\u2019s northern border on October 7, which killed more than 1,100.
\nThe Qatari prime minister said negotiators are trying to \u201cmove forward and put an end to the suffering that the people in Gaza are experiencing and return the hostages\u201d. He condemned what he described as the policy of \u201ccollective punishment\u201d being followed by Israel in Gaza, as well as the occupied West Bank.
\nQatar has \u201cwarned from the beginning of this war against the expansion of the circle of conflict, and today, we see conflicts on different fronts,\u201d he added. \u201cWe constantly call on the international community to assume its responsibilities and stop this war.\u201d
\nThe region is braced for the potential escalation of violence as Israel mulls its response to an attack by Iran over the weekend in retaliation to a suspected Israeli attack on its consulate in Syria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Qatar\u2019s prime minister says there has been \u2018abuse and harm\u2019 done related to Doha\u2019s mediation efforts Doha Qatar\u2019s prime minister has said Doha is re-evaluating its role as a mediator in negotiations aimed at bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli captives, adding that some parties have used the mediation for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-401086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n