Killing of al-Arouri complicates hostage talks, Qatari PM tells families

The assassination of deputy Hamas head Saleh al-Arouri has complicated Qatari’s efforts to arrive at a second deal for the release of hostages in Gaza, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told reporters in Doha on Sunday as he stressed that efforts for an agreement were still ongoing. 

“Having one of the senior leaders of Hamas being killed is something that can effect such a complicated process, yet we are not giving up,” Al Thani said during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“We are moving forward. We are continuing our discussion with the parties and trying to achieve as soon as possible an agreement that can bring a ceasefire, humanitarian relief and the release of the hostages,” he said. 

Blinken said that ‘we are relentlessly focused on bringing everyone home and this was the subject of our conversations this evening as well.”

They spoke as Egyptian and Qatari efforts to secure a hostage deal to free what is now estimated to be 136 captives seized in the Hamas led October 7 attack appeared to have hit an impasse.  A November deal has seen 105 hostages freed, another five were released separately. 

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian meets with Palestinian group Hamas' top leader, Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar December 20, 2023. (credit: Iran's Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)

Among the stiff points of disagreements is a Hamas demand to exchange a permanent ceasefire to the Gaza war for freeing the hostages, while Israel has insisted that it must complete its military campaign to destroy Hamas and would only agree to a temporary pause.

In an unusual move a group of representatives of six of the hostage families traveled to Qatar to meet with top officials including Al-Thani. 

At a press event in Tel Aviv on Sunday night Daniel Lifshitz, whose 83-year-old grandfather Oded is among those held in Gaza, said they had gone to Qatar out of the understanding that the impasse could literally killed the captives.

They had traveled there in cooperation with Israel authorities and in direct response to an invitation from Qatar, he said. It is a move that would otherwise have been complicated given that Qatar and Israel do not have diplomatic relations.

“We worked hard to arrange this meeting, because we wanted them to hear us,” he said.

The Prime Minister and the Foreign Ministers took time to speak with them and the families members walked away with the understanding that a “ceasefire would speed up their release.”

Referefence: Jerusalmen Post:   Story by BY BARAK RAVID