Calling on both parties to take this opportunity to end the war, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, said there is a progress in the ongoing negotiations for a hostage and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel, which could lead to a permanent ceasefire in the future.
Speaking at the Atlantic Council on January 30, he elaborated on the Israel-Palestine negotiations over prisoner exchange. He said good progress was made yesterday, which got things back on track and laid a foundation for the way forward.
However, he added “We cannot say that this makes us…in better shape very soon.” But he said “We are hoping, actually, to relay this proposal to Hamas and to get them to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process.”
Significantly, a growing call has been made by nations around the world to put an end to this war.
Regarding Hamas’s position and achieving a breakthrough to reach an agreement, the Prime Minister and Qatari Foreign Minister said “We are an intermediary party here. We are not a party to this conflict and we are trying our best to bridge the gap within the framework that was agreed upon yesterday with all parties, based on what’s been proposed by the Israelis and Hamas’ counterproposal, and we tried to blend things together to come up with a reasonable position that brings everybody together.”
Furthermore, replying to a question over Hamas’s response for ending the war, he added, “Now, we don’t know and we cannot predict what Hamas’s response will be and we are sure that we will face some challenges and obstacles… it’s not an easy process since we embarked on it from day one in the war, but we are committed to continue carrying forward and coming up with solutions that provide grounds for everyone to move forward.”
During the meeting, the Qatari leader also spoke in length about Qatar’s ability to pressurize Hamas and whether the recent attack on an American base in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan might affect the ongoing negotiations.
Firstly, responding to a question over Qatar’s ability to pressure Hamas, he added, “Our role is mediator. We try to bring the parties together to bridge gaps between them…pressuring both through words, meetings, commitment, addressing issues with some solutions. That’s the pressure and leverage.”
In response to a question concerning the recent attack on an American base in Jordan and its potential impact on the ongoing negotiations to de-escalate the situation in the Gaza Strip, he said, “We’ve been warning from day one that this war has a potential of expanding and spillover in the region. I hope that nothing will undermine the efforts that we are making or jeopardize the process. Yet, it will definitely have an impact. One way or another, it will have an impact on the region’s security. And we hope that things get contained and not to get escalated beyond control.”
“We condemn any act that tries to undermine the security and stability of the region. Infringing the security of a country like Jordan or even killing soldiers who are part of a coalition that we are a member of is not something that can be acceptable. In order to rescue the region from suffering and stop further escalation, a solution must be found to what’s happening in Gaza. We don’t encourage any attacks to happen in any country in our region and we are calling for de-escalation to contain the situation as much as possible,” he added.
