Today (Thursday), the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) considered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements against Qatar regarding its mediation in the hostage issue in the Gaza Strip “reflecting the reality of the occupation’s position, which obstructs reaching an agreement.”

Taher Al-Nono, media advisor to the head of the Hamas political bureau, said in a statement, a copy of which was received by Xinhua News Agency, "Netanyahu's recent statements reflect the reality of the occupation's position, which obstructs reaching an agreement on the prisoners."

He added, "We denounce the occupation leaders' targeting the State of Qatar due to its pan-Arab and humanitarian stances towards the aggression and massacres taking place in the Gaza Strip."

He added, "We affirm that Qatar is playing its active political role in order to stop the aggression against our people and achieve achievement in the exchange file."

Yesterday, Wednesday, Qatar strongly denounced statements attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding its mediation in the hostage issue in the Gaza Strip, considering that if these statements are true, Netanyahu is obstructing and undermining mediation efforts for narrow political reasons.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari said in a post on his official account on the (X) website, “We strongly denounce the statements attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister in various media reports about the Qatari mediation.”

Al-Ansari added that if the circulating statements turn out to be true, the Israeli Prime Minister will obstruct and undermine mediation efforts for narrow political reasons instead of prioritizing saving lives, including Israeli hostages.

He stressed that if the statements are proven true, they are irresponsible and obstruct efforts to save innocent lives, adding that they are "not surprising."

He stated that for months, after successful mediation last year that led to the release of more than 100 hostages, Qatar has engaged in an ongoing dialogue with all parties, including the Israeli party, in an attempt to establish a framework for a new hostage agreement and ensure the entry of the necessary humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

He concluded by saying, "We hope that Netanyahu will be busy working to overcome the obstacles to reaching an agreement to release the hostages," instead of being preoccupied with Qatar's strategic relationship with the United States, as he put it.

Israeli media quoted Netanyahu in a leaked recording during his meeting with the families of prisoners detained in Gaza, saying that Qatar’s mediation between Israel and Hamas represents more problematic than the United Nations and the Red Cross, according to what was reported by the website of the Qatari Al Jazeera satellite channel. .

According to the leaks, Netanyahu stated that he was disappointed that the United States, which extended its presence at the military base in Qatar, was not putting more pressure on Doha and that Doha was not putting pressure on Hamas even though it had influence over the movement because it financed it, as he put it.

Last November, Qatar, Egypt and the United States mediated to reach a temporary truce that lasted a week between Israel and Hamas, during which dozens of detainees in Gaza and Israel were exchanged, and the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged coastal strip was facilitated.

This January, Doha, in cooperation with France, mediated an agreement between Israel and Hamas, which includes the entry of medicines and a shipment of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for the delivery of medicines needed by Israeli detainees in the Strip.