Following a request by the US, Qatar told Hamas over a week ago that it must close its diplomatic office in Doha, senior Biden administration officials told The Times of Israel on Friday.
Qatar has hosted Hamas officials in Doha since 2012, when the terror group moved its headquarters out of Damascus amid the Syrian civil war and after successive US administrations from both parties urged Qatar to serve as a conduit to the terror group.
Following Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, the US informed Qatar that Doha would not be able to maintain “business as usual” with the terror group. However, the administration held off on asking the Gulf state to shutter the Hamas office, viewing the communication channel with Hamas to be as critical as ever in brokering a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Those talks succeeded in a week-long deal last November, but they have failed to secure a permanent ceasefire or the release of the remaining 101 hostages.
A US official told The Times of Israel that Hamas’s execution of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin along with five other captives in late August and subsequent rejection of more ceasefire proposals are what led the administration to change its approach regarding the terror group’s continued presence in Doha, deeming it “no longer viable or acceptable.”
The US decision also coincided with its unsealing of indictments against Hamas officials, including one of its top leaders Khaled Meshaal, who is known to reside in Doha, the US official said.
“After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner,” a second senior administration official told The Times of Israel.
Hamas showed no signs of budging from “unrealistic positions” in the negotiations, maintaining conditions that would have effectively ensured its ability to remain in power in Gaza — “something the US and Israel will never accept,” the American official said.
Two weeks ago, the US asked Qatar to kick out Hamas, the US official said, adding that Doha agreed and gave the notice around October 28.
Details regarding when the expulsion of Hamas officials will actually take place and where they will be ordered to go are still being worked out, the US official added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has called for Qatar to freeze the bank accounts and seize the assets of the Hamas officials that it hosts.
Potential landing spots mentioned in the past include Turkey, Iran, Oman, Lebanon and Algeria; but each comes with certain drawbacks, as far as the US is concerned.
The US official stressed that the administration is continuing to pursue a number of initiatives aimed at securing a hostage deal before the end of President Joe Biden’s term and believes that the combination of Hamas’s expulsion from Qatar, US sanctions and other tools at Washington’s disposal could succeed in coaxing the terror group to come down from its demands.
Qatar has yet to confirm that it has ordered Hamas officials to leave the country, but Qatari officials repeatedly told The Times of Israel throughout the past year that Doha was prepared to oust the terror group and would do so once a formal request from Washington was submitted.
The US official stressed that Doha has played an “invaluable role” as a mediator throughout the conflict. It’s unclear what role Qatar will be able to play moving forward, once it no longer hosts Hamas leaders.
Qatar has come under fire from Congressional Republicans who have been less praiseworthy of Doha’s role in the conflict and argued that the Gulf emirate could have placed more pressure on Hamas to secure a deal.
The Biden administration has repeatedly pushed back against this criticism and has relied on Qatar as a mediator in several other conflicts in addition to the one in Gaza.
Egypt is likely to continue playing a mediating role, given the contacts that it maintains with Hamas leaders in bordering Gaza.
Israel & the Region Hamas Hamas-Qatar relations US-Qatar relations 2023-2024 Israel-Hamas war Biden administration Hamas hostages hostage deal
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