The American website Axios revealed that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has informed the families of six American and Israeli detainees held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip that reaching a new prisoner exchange deal with Hamas has become more difficult following the assassination of Saleh Arouri.
Citing a Qatari official and an Israeli source, the site reported that the families of the six detainees had traveled to Qatar in an attempt to expedite the exchange of the detainees and prisoners.
Axios quoted the sources saying that the Qatari Prime Minister informed the detainees' families that the current negotiations are extremely complicated and briefed them on the challenges Doha is facing in its efforts to reach a new agreement.
The sources stated that these challenges now include the recent escalation of tensions following Arouri's assassination earlier this week. The Qatari official told Axios, "The Prime Minister said that talking with Hamas has become more difficult after what happened in Beirut."
Saleh Arouri, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, was assassinated last Tuesday in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The Qatari official and the Israeli source said that the Qatari Prime Minister informed the families that he is personally committed to continuing to try to secure a new hostage deal and that he will not give up regardless of the challenges.
The families of the detainees also met with Qatar's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khalifi, who heads the Qatari negotiating team with Hamas and Israel and is one of the architects of the agreement that led to a previous exchange deal between the two sides.
According to Axios, the Qatari official said, "We have been in direct contact with the families of the detainees to exchange as much information as possible and to reassure them that Qatar is committed to using all resources to secure their release. We will continue to communicate with these families."
He affirmed, "We are using every possible channel, and we cooperate closely with our counterparts in the United States and Israel. But Qatar plays the role of a mediator; it does not control the actions of Hamas," adding that it has become "increasingly difficult" to maintain communication channels with Hamas due to "the escalation of bombing in Gaza and other places, which frankly complicates the negotiations for the detainees."
