Qatar suspends mediation efforts on Gaza conflict

Palestinians evacuate a body from a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip Picture: AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File

Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, officials said.

However, Qatar is highly likely to return to the efforts if both sides show “serious political willingness” to reach a deal on the war in Gaza, according to one spokesperson.

A diplomatic source said both Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, were informed after the decision was made.

The source added that “as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar.

The announcement comes after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a ceasefire deal.

Earlier, three separate Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people including women and children in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said.

There is no end in sight to Israel’s campaigns against Hamas militants in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israel’s military said that it struck command centres and other militant infrastructure overnight in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday, November 8, 2024. Picture: AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

One of the strikes hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighbourhood, killing at least six people, Gaza’s health ministry said.

Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead.

The Israeli army said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, offering no evidence or further detail.

Another seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering, according to a Nasser Hospital spokesperson.

It said the dead included two women and a child. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the blast.

Meanwhile, Palestinian medical officials said an Israeli strike hit tents in the courtyard of central Gaza’s main hospital, including one serving as a police point.

At least three people were killed and a local journalist was hurt, Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah said. It was the eighth Israeli attack on the compound since March.

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, said on Saturday that 11 aid trucks containing food, water and medical equipment had reached the far north of the enclave, including the urban refugee camp at Jabaliya.

It is the first time any aid has reached the area since Israel began a fresh military campaign there last month.