Following 'destructive' statements, Qatar says reassessing role as mediator in Gaza truce talks

Qatar’s prime minister has said Doha is reassessing its role as a mediator in negotiations between the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and the Israeli regime aimed at bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza.

Qatari Prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who is also foreign minister, said at a joint news conference with Turkey’s foreign minister in Doha on Wednesday.

“Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role,” he said, adding that some parties have made “destructive” statements against Qatar, without specifying to whom he was referring.

The Qatari prime minister said that there was a misuse of this mediation for "narrow political interest", adding that Qatar had been the victim of “point-scoring” by “politicians who are trying to conduct election campaigns by slighting the State of Qatar.”

“We are now at this stage to evaluate mediation and also evaluate how the parties engage in this mediation,” Sheikh Mohammad said.

Earlier, Qatari mediators had raised concerns about a potential setback in Gaza truce negotiations. The Qatari prime minister stated on Wednesday that they are facing challenges and are working to overcome them.

The Qatari prime minister said that negotiators are trying to “move forward and put an end to the suffering that the people in Gaza are experiencing."

He, however, warned about the spillover of war in Gaza to other parts pf the region, saying, Qatar “warned from the beginning of this war against the expansion of the circle of conflict, and today, we see conflicts on different fronts,” he said, emphasizing the need for the international community to take action and halt the ongoing war.

He also strongly condemned Israel's policy of "collective punishment" in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

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The Qatari embassy in Washington released a statement on Tuesday, criticizing Democratic lawmaker Steny Hoyer for urging Qatar to pressure Hamas in order to secure the release of a captive.

Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has been involved in weeks of talks in an effort to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons.

Qatar played a key role in mediation efforts and helped secure a week-long ceasefire in Gaza in November that allowed Palestinian resistance groups and the Israeli regime to exchange captives and prisoners while enabling international organizations to deliver badly-needed humanitarian aid to the coastal sliver.

Israeli officials say 133 hostages are being held in Gaza - including four taken captive before the war - but that more than 30 of them are dead.

Hamas authorities have already said they would not agree to anything short of a permanent ceasefire while calling for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the unconditional return of displaced people to their homes.

At least 33,899 Palestinians have been killed and 76,664 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, while the 2.3 million Palestinian residents are facing severe shortages of food, shelter, and medicine.

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