Hamas leaders no longer in Doha but office not permanently closed, Qatar says

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said Hamas’s office no longer had a function because Qatar had suspended its mediation efforts on a Gaza ceasefire deal, although he stressed that it was not permanently closed.

The Palestinian official told the BBC the Hamas negotiators had adjusted their presence in the region and were keeping their locations secret to avoid embarrassing host countries.

But they said it was likely Hayya was in Turkey as he had travelled there several times over the past two months.

And while the official also denied reports that Qatar had formally asked Hamas to leave, they said the Gulf state seemed to be positioning itself carefully to avoid any tensions between the current administration of President Joe Biden and the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Qatar has hosted Hamas’s political bureau since 2012 and played a key role in facilitating indirect negotiations between the group and Israel. But the recent developments suggest a shift in their relationship.

Earlier this month, Qatar announced that it had paused its efforts to broker a Gaza ceasefire and said they would only resume “when the parties show willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war”. But it denied reports that Hamas leaders had been asked to leave.

On Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari confirmed at a media briefing that “the leaders of Hamas that are within the negotiating team are now not in Doha”.

“As you know, they move between different capitals. I don’t want to get into details of what that means,” he added.

“But what I can tell you very clearly is that the office of Hamas in Doha was created for the sake of the negotiating process. Obviously, when there is no mediation process, the office itself doesn’t have any function.”

He also stressed that “a decision to close down the office permanently is a decision that you will hear about from us directly and shouldn’t be part of media speculation”.

On Monday, Hamas said in a Telegram statement that sources in the group had “denied what some Israeli media outlets had circulated about Hamas leadership leaving Qatar to Turkey".

It followed a similar denial from the Turkish foreign ministry, with sources telling the Turkish news channel NTV: "Hamas political bureau members visit Turkey from time to time. Allegations that the Hamas political bureau moved to Turkey do not reflect the truth.”

US state department spokesman Matthew Miller meanwhile told a news conference in Washington that he was “not in a position to dispute the reports” about the whereabouts of Hamas’s leadership.

“What I would say on behalf of the United States is that we don’t believe the leaders of a vicious terrorist organisation should be living comfortably anywhere, and that certainly includes in a major city of one of our key allies and partners,” he said.

“A number of these individuals are under US indictment, have been under US indictment for some time, and we believe that they should be turned over to the United States,” he added.

He also declined to speculate on whether there would be any consequences for Turkey as a Nato ally if it did take in the Hamas leaders.

Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation - unlike Israel, the US, the UK and many other Western countries - and members of the group often spend time there.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended Hamas as a resistance movement and been fiercely critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 43,970 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

During a visit to Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his determination not to let Hamas have any role in governing Gaza after the war.

He also once again vowed to ensure that all the hostages would be brought home alive and repeated his offer of $5m (£3.95m) for anyone who turned a hostage over to Israel.

Israel says 97 hostages are still being held, 34 of whom are presumed dead. There are another four hostages who were kidnapped before 7 October, two of whom are believed to be dead.

-BBC