US tells Qatar to evict Hamas if it obstructs Israeli hostage deal

The United States has told Qatar that it should expel Hamas if the group continues to reject a cease-fire with Israel, an agreement the Biden administration deems vital to easing the upheaval gripping the Middle East, a US official told The Washington Post.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered the message to Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in April, according to the official, who like others interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations, The Washington Post reports.

Three diplomats familiar with the situation said officials in the Gulf emirate, which has hosted Hamas’s political leadership at America’s request since 2012, have anticipated the request for months, but those expectations sharpened in recent weeks amid mounting frustration over a prolonged impasse on the cease-fire deal. Qatari officials have advised Hamas officials — including Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s political leader who lives in Doha, Qatar’s capital — that they should devise a backup plan for residency should they need to leave, said one of the diplomats.

While the Biden administration sees the threat of ousting Hamas as potential leverage over the Islamist group responsible for the October 7 cross-border attack on Israel, some regional officials and analysts caution that shuttering the Hamas political office in Doha would further complicate efforts to communicate with its leaders and renew future hostage negotiations.

Blinken — who returned to the Middle East this week in a last-ditch effort to secure a deal that would halt fighting, release some of the remaining 13o or so hostages, and forestall a planned Israeli offensive in southern Gaza — has thanked Qatar for its role in mediating talks with Hamas and put the onus squarely on the militant group to accept Israel’s latest proposal.

“We are determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to get it now, and the only reason that wouldn’t be achieved is because of Hamas,” Blinken said Wednesday in Tel Aviv. “There is a proposal on the table, and as we’ve said: no delays, no excuses. The time is now.”

A Hamas delegation is expected to visit Cairo over the weekend, potentially to respond in writing to Israel’s latest proposal, Reuters reported.

After a short-lived pause in fighting in November, during which 105 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel, Hamas refused to release any others unless Israel agreed to a “comprehensive cease-fire.” Israel has vowed the war in Gaza will not end until Hamas is defeated militarily. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Israeli forces would attack the group’s last stronghold in Rafah — with or without a deal.

The White House and State Department as well as CIA Director William J. Burns have encouraged Qatar, a key security partner that hosts a major US military base, and Egypt, the other main interlocutor with Hamas, to lean on the group. But both countries can accomplish only so much since Hamas’s military and political wings are distinct, and any final decision on a deal rests with top military leader Yehiya Sinwar, who is believed to be in hiding in the group’s maze of tunnels beneath Gaza.

In the aftermath of the Hamas-led assault on Israel, Blinken told the Qatari emir that Doha’s relationship with Hamas, which has functioned as Gaza’s de facto government, could not be “business as usual” but privately communicated that the closure of the Hamas office could be delayed to make time for critical hostage negotiations.

Since then, US officials have consistently praised Qatar’s mediation efforts. President Biden “thanked the emir and his senior team for their tireless efforts to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza,” the White House said this week after a phone call between the two leaders.

The speculation about Hamas’s future comes as the US military moves attack drones, fighter jets and other aircraft from the United Arab Emirates to Qatar after the UAE imposed restrictions on US operations, according a senior diplomat from the region. The move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is a fresh sign of how the Oct. 7 attacks have altered long-standing dynamics in Middle East.