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

Qatar officially confirms that Hamas officials are no longer in the country after they were asked to leave late last month amid an ongoing impasse in hostage negotiations.

An Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel over the weekend that Hamas leaders in Doha had left for Turkey last week.

On November 8, the Biden administration revealed that it had asked Qatar to oust Hamas leaders amid Washington’s frustration with the terror group rejecting repeated hostage deal proposals.

Qatar later confirmed asking Hamas to leave but insisted that it made the decision on its own due to frustration with both sides’ refusal to engage constructively in negotiations. Moreover, it framed the move as reversible, insisting that it is prepared to resume its role as mediator if Israel and Hamas change their approach to the talks.

To that end, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari says during a press conference that the Hamas political office in Doha has not been closed permanently. If such a decision is made, it will be announced by Qatar, and not through other means, he adds, in an apparent shot at Biden administration officials, who had announced the move on November 8.

In the meantime, al-Ansari says Hamas leaders are currently out of Doha and “are moving between different capitals.”

Turkey has confirmed that Hamas’s key foreign leaders are in Ankara while insisting that it has not opened an office for them — an apparent effort to avoid the ire of the Biden administration. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller still cautioned Turkey yesterday against hosting Hamas officials at all.

For its part, Israel has begun engaging more intensively with Turkish officials in order to jumpstart hostage negotiations. Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar traveled to Ankara over the weekend to meet with his Turkish counterpart on the matter, the Arab diplomat said.

The development may call into question the purpose of ousting Hamas from Doha, with the sides apparently planning to conduct negotiations in a similar manner in Ankara.