Officials say Qatar has decided to suspend its mediation efforts on Gaza
Deir Al-Balah (Gaza Strip), Nov 9: Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, officials said Saturday.
However, Qatar is highly likely to return to the efforts if both sides show “serious political willingness” to reach a deal on the war in Gaza, according to one official with Egypt, the other key mediator.
A diplomatic source briefed on the matter said both Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, were informed after the decision was made. The source added that “as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
A senior Hamas official said they were aware of Qatar's decision to suspend mediation efforts, “but no one told us to leave.”
The announcement comes after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal.
“After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, (Hamas) leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas' rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal,” a US senior administration official said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Israeli prime minister's office had no comment.
Meanwhile, three separate Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people, including women and children, in Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, and Israel announced the first delivery of humanitarian aid in weeks to hungry, devastated northern Gaza.
There continued to be no end in sight to Israel's campaigns against Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israel's military said that it struck command centres and other infrastructure overnight in Beirut's southern suburbs.
One of the strikes in Gaza hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City's eastern Tufah neighbourhood, killing at least six people, the territory's Health Ministry said. Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead, it said. The Israeli army said the strike targeted a members belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, offering no evidence or details.
Seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering, according to Nasser Hospital. It said the dead included two women and a child. The Israeli army didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
And Palestinian medical officials said an Israeli strike hit tents in the courtyard of central Gaza's main hospital, including one serving as a police point. At least three people were killed and a local journalist was wounded, Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah said. It was the eighth Israeli attack on the compound since March.
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Shivaji statue collapse case: HC grants bail to consultant Chetan Patil
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to consultant Chetan Patil arrested in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj''s statue at Rajkot fort in Malvan in August.
A 35-foot statue of the iconic Maratha warrior king collapsed in Sindhudurg district on August 26, nearly nine months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled it on Navy Day.
Patil was arrested on August 30 from Kolhapur.
A single bench of Justice A S Kilor on Thursday held that no case was made out to implicate Patil in the case as he had not been appointed as the structural designer of the statue.
The bench further said Patil had only submitted a structural stability report of the pedestal of the statue and the pedestal was intact even after the collapse.
Another accused, Jaydeep Apte, who was the sculptor and contractor, was also arrested in the case. The HC said it would hear his bail plea on November 25.
The Sindhudurg police had registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for negligence and other offences last month against Apte and Patil for the statue's collapse.
Patil and Apte moved HC seeking bail after a sessions court rejected their pleas.
