Qatar has agreed to expel Hamas from its soil following a request from the US two weeks ago. Reports said the Hamas leadership in the Gulf state, among them Khaled Mashaal, has been given one week to pack their bags and leave the capital Doha.
Qatar has yet to confirm the expulsion although officials of the Gulf state have said a formal US request was all that would be needed.
Where they could go is not clear although reports mentioned Turkey as one possible destination. Iran, Oman, Lebanon and Algeria have also found mention in the past.
“Hamas is a terrorist group that has killed Americans and continues to hold Americans hostage,” reports quoted a senior US administration official as saying. “After rejecting repeated proposals to release the hostages, its leaders should not be welcome in the capitals of any American partner.”
The US has been telling Qatar to use the threat of expulsion as leverage in their talks with Hamas. The trigger for the expulsion reportedly came in the wake of the killing of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Hamas rejection of another ceasefire proposal.
The US move also coincided with the unsealing of formal charges against Hamas officials including Khaled Mashaal.
Hamas said the reports were baseless and were a “pressure tactic. This has been repeated with no evidence,” a Hamas official was quoted as telling CNN.
Qatar has hosted Hamas in Doha sine 2012 after it was forced to move out of Syria following the outbreak of the civil war.
The Times of Israel reports that the Israeli government has demanded that the bank accounts of Hamas be frozen and the assets of Hamas officials seized.
US officials were reported as saying they were hopeful the combination of expulsion, US sanctions and other tools at Washington’s disposal, could succeed in coaxing the terror group to climb down on its demands.
