Egypt To Continue Gaza Mediation Efforts After Israel's Attack On Qatar

JAKARTA - Egypt will continue to mediate ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas following the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, according to "information" Egyptian sources to Qatari media, al-Araby al-Jadeed.

"Egypt will not allow its mediation efforts to be an excuse for Israel to continue its attacks," the source said, quoted by The Times of Israel on September 11.

At the same time, according to Egyptian diplomatic sources, Cairo "will not allow the situation to continue as usual after this dangerous development," and will avoid meeting with the Israeli delegation in the near future.

"As long as (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu continues his current policy, involvement will be minimal and will only serve Egypt's national security interests," said a senior Egyptian official.

As previously reported, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani confirmed on Tuesday that mediation efforts were part of Qatar's identity and nothing would hinder his role in that regard, hours after Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.

Together with Egypt and the United States, Qatar is known to have played a mediator role in the indirect mediation between Hamas and Israel since the latest conflict broke out on October 7, 2023.

"Qatar has put everything he can and will do everything he can to stop the war in Gaza, but for the current negotiations, I don't think anything is valid at this time after what we saw from today's attack," PM al-Thani told a news conference.

Egypt, Qatar and the US efforts to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza since the last ceasefire failed in March so far have been successful. This is the second pause in the war that began in October 2023.

"Gaza negotiations have been frozen," an official who was directly involved in the negotiations said on Wednesday.

"There is currently no prospect to continue," he added.