Qatar has sent messages to Israel, warning that the government’s actions regarding the second phase of the hostage deal, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s provocative statements, are jeopardizing the first phase as well, Haaretz reported on Monday.
Qatar is deeply dissatisfied with Netanyahu’s actions, particularly his comments supporting the evacuation of all the Arabs from the Gaza Strip and his decision not to send a delegation to Doha last Monday to initiate phase two of the ceasefire negotiations before his return from Washington.
An Israeli source told Haaretz that the Qataris have expressed their anger and reminded Israel that the agreement between Israel and Hamas also involves Qatar as a guarantor. The Qataris warned that Israel’s behavior is endangering the continuation of the hostage releases in phase one of the ceasefire deal.
Last Friday, Hamas delayed for several hours providing the names of the three hostages released on Saturday. If the negotiations for Phase Two do not progress quickly, it is possible that Hamas could employ similar delaying tactics this coming Friday in preparation for the next round. This time, there could even be a further escalation, including a delay in the release itself. Any postponement of the hostages’ release on Saturday would result in a collapse of Phase One.
The interview Netanyahu gave to his close affiliate, right-wing journalist Yaakov Bardugo, on Channel 14, further fueled the anger of the Qatari side. During the interview, Netanyahu reiterated his proposal, following the original suggestion by President Trump, to relocate the Arab population from Gaza to Saudi Arabia, given its vast, empty territories.
In response, the Qatari Foreign Ministry issued a statement strongly condemning the remarks, calling them a “blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.” The statement also expressed Qatar’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and called on the international community to take a firm stance against Israel’s provocations.
Mind you, “Israeli” and not American provocations.
Egypt lets all Gazans leave Gaza via Rafah border crossing, as long as they pay $5000.#TheGazaYouDontSeehttps://t.co/k2ct80VT2L https://t.co/rGYkqDun7j pic.twitter.com/KgFrnFjuHR
— Imshin (@imshin) April 27, 2024
The notion that allowing the people of Gaza to leave constitutes a violation of international law is mindboggling. Western and Arab media have been pushing the idea that the people of Gaza refuse to leave, and therefore forcing them out would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing. But the fact is more than 53% of Gaza’s population polled a few months ago declared they would be happy to move to a better country, preferably in the West. Indeed, those Gazans who could afford it have been paying between $5,000 and $10,000 per head to Hamas and the Egyptian border guards to be allowed out.
.@AbuAliEnglishB1 does the math:
“The Palestinian ambassador in Egypt:
“Between the beginning of the war through the end of March, 85,000 Palestinians left Gaza for Egypt.
On average, 700 people leave Gaza per day for Egypt through the Rafah crossing.”Let’s calculate the… pic.twitter.com/7B9DM4a2Ou
— Imshin (@imshin) April 25, 2024
