Hamas negotiators 'not in Doha'

WORLDWIDE:

Hamas negotiators are not in Doha but their office has not been permanently closed, Qatar said on Tuesday following speculation that the Palestinian group had been ordered out of the Qatari capital.

"The leaders of Hamas that are within the negotiating team are now not in Doha," foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said, adding: "The decision to... close down the office permanently, is a decision that you will hear about from us directly."

Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, had led months of fruitless negotiations for a truce in the Gaza war, but the Gulf state announced earlier this month it was pausing its mediation efforts.

The announcement followed reports Qatar had warned Hamas that its political bureau, which the Gulf state has hosted since 2012 with the blessing of the United States, was no longer welcome.

"The mediation process right now... is suspended unless we take a decision to reverse that which is based on the positions of both sides," Ansari said on Tuesday.

"The office of Hamas in Doha was created for the sake of the mediation process. Obviously, when there is no mediation process, the office itself doesn't have any function," he added, declining to confirm whether Qatar had asked Hamas officials to leave.

A senior Hamas member told AFP on Tuesday that a delegation led by the group's chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya was "on a mission outside Qatar" and had not returned to the emirate.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the member refuted reports the Palestinian group had been asked to leave, saying "no party asked Hamas to leave any country where Hamas leaders are present, including Qatar".