‘Not welcome here’: Qatar tells Hamas to leave after US pressure, Hamas official denies report

Qatar has agreed to remove Hamas from its territory after Hamas refused to conduct genuine hostage, ceasefire negotiations, an American source told Israeli state broadcaster, KAN on Saturday morning.

This latest update follows a senior American administration official telling Reuters on Friday that the US has told Qatar that the presence of Hamas in Doha is no longer acceptable in the weeks since the Palestinian terror group rejected the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal.

“After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas’s rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Qatar then made the demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago, the official said. Washington has been in touch with Qatar over when to close the political office of Hamas, and it told Doha that now was the time following the group’s rejection of the recent proposal.

KAN had reported on Friday that Qatar told the terrorist group Hamas, “You are not welcome here,” citing a source familiar with the matter.

According to the KAN report, Qatar had previously explained that Hamas’s leadership in the country was meant to facilitate dialogue during hostage negotiation efforts.

Egyptian sources told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that direct talks with senior Hamas officials are ongoing, with recent talks taking place on November 5, the day of the US elections. 

“Hamas is a terrorist group that has killed Americans and continues to hold Americans hostage,” a senior US administration official told CNN. “After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner.”

Three Hamas officials denied Qatar had told Hamas leaders they were no longer welcome in the country. Another Hamas official, cited by Army Radio, said that Qatar “has no plans to expel the leaders from Doha” and that “the Israeli reports are completely baseless.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

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