Qatar criticises Israel's Netanyahu over pressure on Hamas to release hostages

Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani participates in an Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee briefing session on the current situation in Gaza, in Washington, DC, on December 8, 2023 [OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images]

Conflict mediator, Qatar, on Monday criticised comments from Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in which it said he asked the Gulf State to pressure Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages, describing them as a new attempt to prolong the Gaza war, Reuters reports.

Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said at the weekend that the pattern of negotiations for a framework ceasefire deal for the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was “not very promising” in recent days.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s recent statements in which he calls on Qatar to pressure Hamas into releasing the (Israeli) hostages are nothing but a new attempt by him to delay and prolong the war for reasons that have become clear to everyone

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, posted in a statement on social media platform X.

It was unclear what comments from Netanyahu the Qatari statement was referring to.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Foreign Minister, said on Saturday he could not give details of talks but, as with past deals, there were two elements: humanitarian conditions in Gaza and the number of Palestinians to be released for Israeli hostages.

READ: Palestine at the ICJ: Israel’s illegal occupation must be ‘terminated completely’

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