2024-01-27T19:36:42+00:00
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/ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his attack on the State of Qatar on Saturday, in a new comment on the audio leak attributed to him several days ago, in which he criticized the Gulf state that has close relations with Hamas, describing it as “problematic.”
Reuters reported that Netanyahu intensified pressure on Qatar to release the hostages held in Gaza, saying that Doha should use its influence with Hamas as a host and funder, as he described it.
“I do not retract my words,” Netanyahu told reporters, when asked about undisclosed comments in which he said he did not want to thank Qatar for its mediation and considered it a “troublemaker.”
Those comments were leaked to Israeli television this week in audio recording form.
In a leaked recording of a meeting with hostage families broadcast by Israel’s Channel 12 News, Netanyahu described Qatar as “problematic.”
“You didn’t see me thank Qatar, did you notice? I didn’t thank Qatar. Why? Because Qatar, for me, is no different in essence from the United Nations, from the Red Cross, and in some ways it is even more problematic. However, I am ready to deal with any mediator now who can help me bring them (the hostages) home,” he said.
At the time, Qatar expressed its strong condemnation of the statements attributed to Netanyahu, as Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari wrote on the X platform, “We strongly condemn the statements attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister in various media reports about Qatari mediation.”
He continued, “If the circulating statements turn out to be true, then the Israeli Prime Minister is obstructing and undermining the mediation efforts, for narrow political reasons instead of giving priority to saving lives, including the Israeli hostages.”
Last November, Qatar helped broker a seven-day truce during which 110 Israelis and foreigners held in Gaza were released in exchange for 240 Palestinians held by Israel.
Qatar, Egypt and the United States are currently trying to mediate a new truce in Gaza, one that would be longer than the previous one and allow for the release of Palestinian hostages and detainees and the entry of more humanitarian aid to civilians.