Qatar accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the Gaza war as it traded barbs with the Israeli leader regarding the stalled talks for the release of the remaining 134 hostages held by Hamas.“The Israeli prime minister’s recent statements .. are nothing but a new attempt to stall and prolong the war for reasons that have become obvious to everyone,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majad Al Ansari wrote in a post on X.He spoke one day after Netanyahu accused Qatar of being too soft on Hamas in a speech he delivered in Jerusalem to the Conference of Presidents.“I urge you to press Qatar to press Hamas because we want our hostages released,” Netanyahu told the Jewish American leaders who had gathered for a gala dinner at the Museum of Tolerance.“Qatar can press Hamas as no one else can. They host Hamas leaders. Hamas is dependent on them financially,” Netanyahu said.
What's the plan for bringing home hostages?
“The release of hostages can be achieved through strong military action and tough negotiations, very tough negotiations. That tough position has to involve the exertion of pressure. And the exertion of pressure is not merely on Hamas itself, but on those who can exert pressure on Hamas, beginning with Qatar,” Netanyahu said.He spoke as talks for a hostage deal had reached a standstill, with Hamas insisting on a permanent ceasefire and a full IDF withdrawal from Gaza as part of the deal. Qatar and Egypt have been the main mediators for such an agreement. They have worked together with the United States.Ansari said Netanyahu knew “very well that Qatar has been committed from day one to mediation efforts, ending the crisis and freeing the hostages.”He pointed to the successful deal it mediated in November through which 105 hostages were released in exchange for a weeklong pause in the war.Ansari said that the November deal proved that “mediation is the only effective method in securing the return of the hostages, de-escalation, and protecting regional security.”Qatar, he said, “categorically rejects” Netanyahu’s “empty accusations” about its reconstruction efforts and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza, “portraying them as funding Hamas.”Netanyahu knows, Ansari said, that this assistance was given to Gaza through “full coordination with Israel, the US, Egypt, the United Nations, and all concerned parties.”“We affirm that Qatar will continue its mediation efforts and will not be deterred by rhetoric and statements that can only be understood in the context of escaping from the Israeli Prime Minister’s personal political challenges.“We call on him to focus on the path of negotiations that serves the security of the region and end the ongoing tragedy of the war instead of issuing such statements whenever it suits his narrow political agenda.Israel’s Coordinator for the Captives and the Missing Gal Hirsch told CNN on Saturday that there were “many hostages in Rafah” along with many Palestinian civilians that Hamas has used as human shields.“I believe that a deal can be made because we are ready to pay prices,” Hirsch said.US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told the Conference of Presidents on Sunday that there was a “very real hope that the remaining 134 hostages will soon begin to return” including the six who have dual Israeli-American citizenship.
“We continue to press on behalf of the six Americans who remain in captivity for whom we have a special duty, along with all of the Israeli hostages, calling on all parties to stay engaged and find a pathway for their return from captivity,” he said.