Qatar: Hamas’ office will remain in Doha as long as its presence is useful and positive for mediation with Israel

Qatar announced on Tuesday that the political office of Hamas movement will remain in Doha as long as its presence is useful and positive for the Gulf state’s mediation efforts between the Palestinians and the Israelis, commenting on reports of its possible transfer to another country.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al Ansari said in a weekly press conference, “As long as their presence (Hamas leaders) here in Doha…is beneficial and positive for mediation efforts, they will remain here”.

Qatar has hosted a political office for Hamas since 2012, with the blessing of the United States, and has long played the role of mediator between Israelis and Palestinians.

He confirmed that the Hamas office in Doha was established in coordination with the United States and other parties to ensure the existence of a communication channel that would make any mediation led by Qatar between the two parties successful, and it succeeded in completing many mediations in recent years.

For months, Qatar has been leading mediation efforts with Egypt and the United States to try to reach a truce agreement in Gaza and recover hostages taken by Hamas during its attack on Israel on October 7 in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Ansari added, “As long as this office performs this role, meaning that mediation efforts are still continuing, there is no justification for ending its existence”.

He stressed that Qatar is committed to mediation but is in a re-evaluation phase, repeating statements by Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al Thani last Wednesday that raised speculation about the possibility of Hamas leaving Doha.

Ansari criticized the statements of Israeli officials regarding Qatar, noting that they were one of the reasons that prompted Doha to reconsider its role in mediation.

He said, “It’s no secret that there were statements by a number of Israeli officials, including ministers in the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke negatively about the Qatari mediation, and they all know what the Qatari role is, its nature, and its details during the previous stage”.

He accused them of “making up lies… just for the sake of political positioning within the framework of the electoral cycle in their country,” noting that this “doesn’t justify in any way attacking the mediator”.

Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Shekli said last week that “accepting Qatar as a mediator is a grave mistake… Qatar isn’t a mediator, it’s a player, and part of the October 7 attack,” considering that Qatar and Iran are enemies because they are part of extremist jihadist Islam.