Qatar says ‘renewed interest’ in Gaza talks, wants unified Arab stance on Syria

DOHA — Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Sunday there was "renewed interest" in reviving ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, a month after the Gulf state announced it would no longer be involved in leading the effort. The news came the same day that Syrian rebels announced they had taken control of Damascus, bringing an end to Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule.

"There is a renewed interest in engaging on both sides. We said we are going to leave the mediation until we see some seriousness on both sides," Ansari told reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum on Sunday. "We need concessions on both sides. We need for the positions that were taken before to be eased in order to be able to continue the talks."

Ansari's comments follow Doha's abrupt decision in November to suspend mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas, which the spokesman at that time blamed on a "lack of willingness" of both parties to engage positively in discussions. 

Al-Monitor reported on Nov. 8 that, bowing to US pressure, Qatar told Hamas to leave the country after the Palestinian militant group rejected another hostage-release proposal.

A senior Biden official told Al-Monitor's Elizabeth Hagedorn that while Doha providing a platform for the talks had been "invaluable," that phase is over as Hamas' presence in the country was no longer acceptable. 

Doha has positioned itself as a mediator between the United States and its adversaries, such as Russia, Iran and Islamist movements including Hamas. The country has also hosted Afghanistan's Taliban since the early 2010s. Qatar came under pressure from the United States in mid-October to expel Hamas.

On Sunday, Ansari said the country was committed to supporting "a viable Palestinian governance model for all the Palestinian territories together.” "We need to support the Palestinian government's model, the Palestinian Authority, to be able to govern in all Palestinian territories. We need to make sure that occupation is not the new reality in Gaza," he added.

The earlier collapse of the ceasefire talks came as the Israel-Hamas war entered its second year, with around 45,000 Palestinians and 1,700 Israelis killed. The war started following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed almost 1,200 people and saw some 250 others kidnapped.

Gulf states remain wary of continued spillover from the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The Assad regime, which was aligned with Iran, fell on Sunday, as rebel forces backed by Turkey took over Damascus.

Qatar, which — unlike other Gulf states — never normalized relations with Assad, is working on a "unified Arab position" with respect to Syria, Ansari said.

"We are going now to the Arab format within the Arab contact group in order to have a unified Arab position on this," he said. "So I think it's better to formulate a pan-Arab position that encompasses a GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) position. We are talking to our partners right now on it, but still, we are formulating the position as we go."

A pan-Arab position would help tide over internal differences within the GCC. Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates had made overtures to Assad in recent years, with the UAE opening an embassy in Damascus in 2018 and Assad traveling to the UAE in 2022 for his first visit to an Arab country since the outbreak of the civil war. The Arab League reinstated Syria in 2023, at a time when the conflict seemed to have largely been contained to the northwestern part of the country. 

Qatar's involvement in the Syrian civil war began in 2012 when it backed Syrian opposition rebels, including providing funding and arms to various groups fighting against Assad.

"I don't think it's a secret that we have very different opinions on how to deal with the Syrian regime. We are the only country in the Gulf that severed relations with the regime. Others in the [GCC] have decided to engage and even [issued] statements and support during the past couple of days," Ansari said.

He confirmed that GCC states are looking to work more closely on Syria, with Qatar's foreign minister holding "very close discussions" with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, during his visit to Doha on Saturday.