Senior Hamas official denies Doha told the terror group to leave town

A senior Hamas official tells that the terror group had received no indication from Qatar that it should leave the country, where its political office has been based for years.

“We have nothing to confirm or deny regarding what was published by an unidentified diplomatic source and we have not received any request to leave Qatar,” the official says from Doha, after a diplomatic source told AFP that Qatar had withdrawn as a key mediator in negotiating a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and had warned Hamas its Doha office was “no longer” serving its purpose.

Meanwhile, an Israeli official welcomes Qatar’s decision to end its mediating role on the grounds that neither Israel nor Hamas is operating in good faith.

“There’s a logic to it. The moment that [the Qataris] expel Hamas there is no more advantage in mediation and it becomes superfluous,” says the official. “Hamas is a murderous terror organization that needs to be suppressed globally rather than receiving emergency lodgings in any country.”

“It’s been a while already that Israel and the US have been pushing for Qatar to expel Hamas,” adds the official.