The "Times of Israel" reported that Qatar briefly expelled Hamas leaders in April amid stalled hostage negotiations. The newspaper added, citing government officials, that Qatar quietly requested Hamas leaders to leave Doha last month due to frustration over the group's handling of the hostage negotiation deal. This was the first time since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas that Qatar took such action, aiming to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a compromise in talks that had not reached an agreement since the first ceasefire.
Officials stated that the Qatari request came shortly after Doha announced it was evaluating its role as a mediator in the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas. The two officials revealed that the evaluation by Doha also stemmed from frustrations with Hamas, following the group's refusal to offer sufficient concessions in successive negotiation rounds.
**Departure to Turkey and Return**
After being asked to leave Qatar, the Hamas leaders traveled to Turkey, where they stayed for several weeks and met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who praised their efforts against Israel, according to the Hebrew newspaper. About two weeks later, Egypt launched its own initiative to mediate a hostage deal.
As those negotiations began to stall, Qatar informed Hamas leaders that they could return to Doha in hopes of preventing a complete collapse of talks. Weeks prior, Hamas announced its agreement to the Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the group.
In response to Hamas agreeing to the ceasefire deal, Israeli officials emphasized that the terms accepted by Hamas were not those approved by Israel. Negotiations later halted and have yet to resume, as both sides have been unable to reach understandings on the core issues of the talks, with Israel insisting on a temporary ceasefire while declaring its intent to continue fighting afterward to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, whereas Hamas demands a permanent ceasefire and is committed to remaining in power.
