The Israeli Minister of Finance responded Bezalel Smotrich On the statement of Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari, saying, “Qatar is the main sponsor of the movement agitationHe added that the West’s position towards Qatar is hypocritical and based on interests.
Smotrich called on the West to pressure Qatar to release detainees in the Gaza Strip, saying that “one thing is clear, which is that Qatar will not have a role the next day after the war in Gaza.”
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari strongly denounced the statements attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Regarding Qatari mediation.
Al-Ansari said that the statements attributed to Netanyahu are irresponsible and obstruct efforts to save lives, but they are not surprising.
Al-Ansari said that if the statements turn out to be true, the Israeli Prime Minister is obstructing mediation efforts for narrow political reasons instead of prioritizing saving lives.
He added that instead of being preoccupied with Qatar’s strategic relationship with the United States, Netanyahu should be preoccupied with overcoming the obstacles to reaching an agreement to release the hostages.
Leaked by Netanyahu
The Israeli Channel 12 had revealed a leaked recording of Netanyahu during his meeting with the families of prisoners in Gaza, in which he said that Qatar is more problematic than the United Nations and the Red Cross, and that he is disappointed that Washington is not putting more pressure on Doha.
According to the leaked recording, Netanyahu indicated that he did not thank Qatar publicly because it could put more pressure on the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Haaretz newspaper reported from informed sources that Netanyahu informed the families of the prisoners that Israel is ready to make concessions for the sake of a new deal, and an Israeli channel published general principles for the deal that do not include an end to the war, which is one of Hamas’ conditions.
Qatar – along with Egypt and the United States – played a role in reaching a truce between Hamas and Israel last November, and the two sides exchanged the release of numbers of prisoners.
