Qatar says ready to resume mediation for Gaza cease-fire

DOHA

Qatar said Tuesday that it is ready to resume its mediation efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel.

"Doha is ready to resume the negotiations if there is seriousness from the parties,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.

He added that his country has suspended its mediation “due to the lack of seriousness from the parties.”

Doha "will not accept being exploited for political purposes,” the spokesman said.

“The Qatari position is firm and clear, which is to cease fire and bring aid into the Gaza Strip,” he added.

The Qatari spokesman said Hamas negotiators are not currently in Doha.

Hamas negotiators “are moving between various capitals,” he said.

"If the Hamas political office (in Doha) is closed, it will be announced by the Qatari Foreign Ministry, not through other media outlets,” he stressed.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar have so far failed to achieve a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal, but Washington maintains that Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Oct. 18 may lead to a breakthrough in talks.

Hamas, however, says the conflict will only end when Israel stops its military campaign in the blockaded enclave, which has killed nearly 44,000 people since October 2023.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala