Published: 27 October 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Qatar's PM hopes there will be a breakthrough on hostage releases ‘soon’; Joe Biden says a two-state solution must follow the Israel-Hamas war, with no return to the status quo.
Israel is walking a fine diplomatic line when it comes to Qatar, as it waits for a breakthrough on the release of Israeli and foreign-national hostages held in Gaza.
Qatar, a US ally that hosts a large US military base, also hosts Hamas’s political bureau and doubles as the main residence of its self-exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh, as well as its former leader Khaled Mashaal. The country is one of Hamas’s main backers, transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to the terror group annually.
Qatar's prime minister expressed on Wednesday that he hopes there will be breakthroughs on hostage releases "soon" but according to a source engaged in the negotiations, there has not been a breakthrough at this stage.
Israel's National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi praised Qatar's diplomatic intervention in Gaza, calling it "crucial." Hanegbi’s statement was intended to improve relations between Israel and Qatar, after two days in which the Israeli government has been conveying harsh messages against the emirate.
Hanegbi’s statement was criticized by former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who accused the current government of “making a grave mistake.”
“Israel’s stated goal is to destroy Hamas,” Bennett continued. “Qatar’s goal is the exact opposite: to save Hamas. How can we destroy the enemy if we’re handing out compliments to its chief sponsor, for God’s sake… Qatar… will introduce limited hostage deals every few days to confuse Israel and hinder its efforts to eradicate Hamas.”
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that a two-state solution must follow the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with there being no returning to the status quo that existed before the October 7 attacks.
In his most extensive remarks on the quickly escalating conflict in recent days, Biden expressed a lack of confidence in the Palestinian self-reported death tolls in Gaza while sharply criticizing "extremist" West Bank settlers for "throwing gasoline on the fire" in their attacks against local Palestinians.
He also stressed that he had not demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delay the ground incursion into Gaza. On the same day, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel has agreed to postpone a Gaza ground invasion so that American defences can be reinforced across the Middle East,
