RSS
Qatar Considers Future of Hamas Office in Doha, and Whether to Keep Mediating
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh meets with Qatari envoy Mohammed Al-Emadi in Gaza City, Jan. 24, 2019. Photo: Ahmed Shaat / Courtesy of Hamas Chief Media Office / Handout via Reuters.
Qatar could close the political office of Hamas as part of a broader review of its role as a mediator in the war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group, according to an official familiar with the Qatari government’s reassessment.
The Gulf state was weighing whether to allow Hamas to continue operating the political office, and the broader review includes considering whether or not to continue mediating in the seven-month conflict, the official told Reuters.
Qatar said last month it was reevaluating its role as mediator in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, citing concerns that its efforts were being undermined by politicians seeking to score points.
“If Qatar isn’t going to be mediating, they won’t see a point in keeping the political office. So that is a part of the reassessment,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official did not know if Hamas would be asked to leave Doha if the Qatari government did decide to close the group’s office. However, the official did say Qatar’s own review of its role would be influenced by how Israel and Hamas act during the ongoing negotiations.
In a report on Friday, The Washington Post cited an unnamed US official as saying Washington had told Doha to expel Hamas if the group continues to reject a ceasefire deal with Israel.
Hamas negotiators arrived in Cairo on Saturday for intensified talks on a possible Gaza truce that would see the return to Israel of some hostages, a Hamas official told Reuters.
HAMAS POLITICAL LEADERS
Qatar has hosted Hamas’ political leaders since 2012 as part of an agreement with the US.
Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s leader, lives in Doha and has traveled frequently, including to Turkey, since the deadly Hamas raid on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Qatar, an influential Gulf state that is designated as major non-NATO ally by Washington, has come under criticism from within the United States and Israel over its ties to Hamas since Oct. 7.
Some 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attack and 253 others were abducted, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Some US lawmakers have called on President Joe Biden’s administration to reevalaute its ties with Qatar if it does not pressure Hamas to make a deal to release hostages. Others have urged Qatar to cut ties with Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also called for Qatar to pressure Hamas. Qatar and Israel do not have formal ties but their officials meet to discuss the mediation efforts.
The post Qatar Considers Future of Hamas Office in Doha, and Whether to Keep Mediating first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.