Qatar set to ‘re-evaluate’ role as agency alleges Israel beat its staff
Prime minister says ceasefire talks hurt by ‘narrow political interests’
Qatar is re-evaluating its role as mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, citing concerns that its efforts are being undermined by politicians seeking to score points.
Yesterday, Qatari prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also foreign minister, said there was a “misuse of this mediation for narrow political interests, and this necessitated Qatar to undertake a full evaluation of this role”.
He did not identify any politicians by name.
On Tuesday, Qatar’s embassy in Washington criticised comments made by US Democratic congressman Steny Hoyer, in which he called on the US to “re-evaluate” its relationship with Qatar.
Mr Hoyer said on Monday that Qatar must threaten Hamas with “repercussions” if the militant Palestinian group “continues to block progress towards releasing the hostages and establishing a temporary ceasefire”.
Some other US lawmakers have suggested in recent months that Qatar supports Hamas, an accusation rejected by the Gulf state, which hosts 10,000 US troops, the largest US military presence in the Middle East.
Sheikh Mohammed yesterday underscored that the role of mediator has limits: “[Mediators] cannot provide things that the parties themselves refrain from.”
Earlier yesterday, Sheikh Mohammed said the talks on a Gaza ceasefire and a release of hostages were at a “delicate phase”.
“We are trying as much as possible to address this stumbling block,” he added, without giving further details.
Qatar’s premier also condemned what he described as a policy of “collective punishment” being pursued by Israel in its war in Gaza against Hamas as well as the latest escalation of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The ceasefire discussions, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, are being held against the backdrop of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, where Palestinians are suffering severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials.
Meanwhile, the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said some of its staff members and other people detained by Israeli forces in Gaza were subjected to ill-treatment, including severe beatings and being forced to strip naked.
In a report published on Tuesday, UNRWA said staff that were detained, in some cases while performing official duties, were “held incommunicado and subjected to the same conditions and ill-treatment as other detainees”, which it said included several different forms of abuse.
The agency said staff members had said they were subjected to beatings and treatment akin to waterboarding, threats of rape and electrocution, and were forced to strip naked, among other forms of ill-treatment.
“UNRWA has made official protests to the Israeli authorities about the reported treatment of Agency staff members while they were in Israeli detention centres,” it said. “UNRWA has not received any response to these protests to date.”
The Israeli military has said it acts according to Israeli and international law and those it arrests get access to food, water, medication and proper clothing. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claims in the UNRWA report.
The United States was “deeply concerned” and would press Israel for a full investigation on the allegations and accountability for any perpetrators, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said when asked about the report on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society has said Israel refuses to disclose information on the number of people from Gaza it has detained over the past six months, or on where they are being held.
UNRWA has documented the release of 1,506 detainees from Gaza, including 43 children and 84 women, by the Israeli authorities through the Kerem Shalom crossing as of April 4.
The freed detainees were subjected to “insults and humiliation such as being made to act like animals or getting urinated on, use of loud music and noise, deprivation of water, food, sleep and toilets, denial of the right to pray and prolonged use of tightly locked handcuffs causing open wounds and friction injuries,” according to UNRWA.
“Detainees were threatened with prolonged detention, injury or the killing of family members if they did not provide requested information,” UNRWA said.
“In most reported detention incidents, the IDF forced males, including children, to strip down to their underwear. UNRWA also documented at least one occasion where males sheltering in an UNRWA installation were forced to strip naked and were detained while naked.”
Israel’s military operation in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack, which by its tallies killed 1,200 with 253 taken hostage.
The subsequent bombardment has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to Palestine, and displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.