Beijing, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Washington Post revealed on May 3 that the US government has put pressure on Qatar, saying that if the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) continues to refuse to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel, Qatar should expel the Hamas leader from the country.
On the same day, Hamas announced that it would send a delegation to Egypt on the 4th to participate in the negotiations with a "positive attitude."
The United States is pressing
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed the U.S. position on the expulsion of Hamas leaders to Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al Thani in April, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post. Another diplomat familiar with the matter revealed that the Qatari government has advised Hamas leaders such as Ismail Haniyeh to prepare an alternative place of residence due to the ongoing deadlock in ceasefire talks.
According to reports, the US Government has used the closure of the Hamas office in Doha, Qatar, as a possible "bargaining chip" in ceasefire negotiations. Some Middle Eastern officials and analysts have warned that this would further complicate communication with Hamas leaders and follow-up efforts to advance ceasefire talks. Patrick Siros, a former U.S. ambassador to Qatar, said that expelling the Hamas leader from Qatar would be a "nightmare" for the White House, and would basically cut off the possibility of follow-up negotiations, "hurting others and not benefiting themselves."
According to the report, the United States is increasingly dissatisfied with Hamas's negotiating stance, and many politicians say that Qatar has not put enough pressure on Hamas, and demand that the US government reassess its relations with Qatar or pressure Qatar to completely sever relations with Hamas.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman publicly expressed dissatisfaction with criticism of the United States and Israel over their mediation role in the talks, saying that there was an "abuse" of the ceasefire talks for "narrow political interests," forcing Qatar to be prepared to make a full assessment of its mediation role.
In an interview with Israeli media last week, Majid al-Ansari, an adviser to the Qatari prime minister and spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed that Qatar was "at the request of the US side and not on its own initiative to establish contacts with Hamas." He also criticized, without naming names, that "those who seek to secure their political future or canvass for the next elections are using Qatar as a political sandbag".
Negotiations continue
After a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in October last year, Hamas and Israel briefly suspended fire at the end of last year, and both sides exchanged some detainees. However, in the follow-up ceasefire negotiations, Hamas insisted that Israel agree to a permanent ceasefire, and Israel vowed to continue military operations and "eliminate" Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that the Israeli army would launch a ground offensive against the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, regardless of whether a ceasefire agreement with Hamas can be reached. The international community is concerned that if the Israeli army launches a ground war against Rafah, it will inevitably cause a large number of civilian casualties.
Hamas issued a statement on the evening of the 3rd, saying that it had studied the latest ceasefire plan and would send a delegation to Cairo, Egypt on the 4th to continue negotiations with a "positive attitude." Hamas and Israel have not been negotiating face-to-face, and Egypt, Qatar and other mediators have passed on the message.
Egyptian sources told Reuters on the 3rd that CIA Director William Burns arrived in Cairo earlier that day. Hamas and CIA officials will meet with Egyptian representatives on the 4th, and it is not clear whether the parties will meet separately or jointly at that time. According to Egyptian sources, both Hamas and Israel have made concessions recently, and some progress has been made in the talks.
Hamas also said in a statement on the 3rd that it is determined to finalize an agreement in a way that meets the needs of the Palestinian people, requiring the Israeli army to completely stop its offensive and withdraw from the Gaza Strip, the displaced people to return to their homes and obtain relief supplies, start the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and complete the "serious" agreement on the exchange of detainees.
A Hamas source told dpa-Presse that there are still some issues to be discussed and clarification to be made in the talks. Once these issues are resolved, Hamas will publish its final position. (Marine)