Qatar pushed Hamas to reject latest hostage deal offer, wait for better proposal – report

Qatar pressured Hamas not to accept the latest Egyptian hostage deal proposal, instead advising the terror group to wait for a better offer, according to several Israeli media outlets on Sunday.

According to the Israel Hayom news outlet, Qatari officials – who, along with Egypt, serve as mediators between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization – supported the terror group’s rejection of the latest offer.

The latest proposal envisioned a long-term ceasefire of up to seven years, with Hamas releasing all Israeli hostages in exchange for a guarantee to stop military activities, and a complete withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza.

Egyptian sources also said that Hamas had indicated readiness to lay down its arms and store them in a secured warehouse, while surrendering control over Gaza to a governing committee and forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Israel Hayom reported that Hamas would have accepted the proposal without the support from Qatar, adding that Hamas officials' willingness to accept the deal was the result of heavy diplomatic pressure from Egypt and the PA, as well as the IDF’s military pressure and prevention of humanitarian aid.

However, in addition to Qatar’s actions, the opportunity for an agreement was missed due to a failure by the Israeli negotiating team under the leadership of Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and because White House envoy Steve Witkoff has mainly focused on the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, and the Iran nuclear talks.

Responding to these explosive charges, the Times of Israel (TOI) cited an Arab official who denied Qatar was the cause for the talks’ failure. According to the report, this official is not from Qatar but had been informed about the negotiations.

The source alleged that the reports had been “manufactured” by Israeli officials in order to hamper the negotiations while deflecting the blame from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toward Qatar.

Despite Hamas’ repeatedly rejecting several offers, the negotiations are continuing.

On Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said he noticed some progress in the talks last week.

On Thursday, Mossad Director David Barnea, who recently lost his role as chief negotiator to Dermer, met with Al-Thani in Doha to discuss a hostage deal, an Israeli official told the TOI.

“We have seen on Thursday a bit of progress compared to other meetings, yet we need to find an answer for the ultimate question: how to end this war. That’s the key point of the entire negotiations,” Al-Thani said at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

According to Israel Hayom, the performance of Israel’s negotiating team has taken a turn for the worse since Dermer took over, citing a source who said its activities have been “between borderline and negative.”

In recent months, tensions between the mediators from Qatar and Egypt have come to the fore. As part of the revelations surrounding “Qatargate,” Israeli media reported that aides of Netanyahu were employed in propaganda campaigns aimed at improving Qatar’s image while tarnishing that of Egypt.

On Sunday, Al-Thani slammed media coverage of the scandal, alleging that it is part of “a public relations campaign being waged against the State of Qatar in Israel.”

“What is being called ‘Qatargate’ is journalistic propaganda for political purposes that has no basis in truth. Fringe politicians in Israel are leveling accusations against Doha while forgetting its role in the release of the hostages,” he said.

“Qatar’s contracts with an American communications firm were intended to counter a public relations campaign against us in Israel,” Al-Thani added.