Qatar's mediation efforts in Israel-Hamas war come under fire

DOHA, Qatar — When U.S. officials needed to negotiate with the Taliban to bring an end to the Afghanistan war, they turned to Qatar.

With Russia continuing its campaign in Ukraine, Qatar has become the main facilitator for what little communication there is between the two sides.

In past years, this tiny desert nation has captured outsized attention largely because of the splashy real estate projects it bankrolls with proceeds from the world’s largest gas field. It’s also home to one of the United States’ most strategically important military air bases in the Middle East.

But increasingly during the past six months of the war in Gaza, Qatar’s role as a mediator has come under scrutiny.

Doha has had limited success forging an agreement to stop the fighting and release Israeli hostages, spurring a rush of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and Israeli officials.

A new round of Gaza cease-fire negotiations that began over the weekend had Egypt instead of Qatar in the leading role.

Qatar says it’s reassessing its role. This weekend, Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said during a visit to Israel that the Qataris expected “more commitment and more seriousness” in negotiations from both sides.

In a phone call Monday to Qatar’s Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, President Joe Biden said both Egypt and Qatar would work to ensure “full implementation” of any agreement between Hamas and Israel, according to a White House readout.

Biden also urged the Qatari leader to “exert all efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas as this is now the only obstacle to an immediate cease-fire and relief for the people of Gaza,” while thanking the prince and his team “for their tireless efforts to secure the release of all hostages.”

Hamas’ negotiating team left Cairo on Monday, according to state-owned Egyptian station Al-Qahera News, which quoted what it described as a high-level Egyptian source who said that the Hamas team would return at an undisclosed time with a written response to the proposals.

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