{"id":12454,"date":"2023-11-21T13:11:56","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T18:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whia.us\/?p=12454"},"modified":"2023-11-21T13:31:45","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T18:31:45","slug":"gop-senator-qatar-ambassador-spar-over-hamas-in-doha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/12454\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP senator, Qatar ambassador spar over Hamas in Doha"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WHIA -Provided by The Hill<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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A <\/span>Republican senator and the Qatari ambassador to the U.S. argued back and forth on social media Monday, with the U.S. lawmaker criticizing the Gulf country for hosting Hamas while at the same time negotiating for the release of hostages held by the group in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ted Budd (N.C.)\u00a0wrote on X<\/a>, the platform formerly known as Twitter, criticizing Qatar for saying a deal to release hostages being held by Hamas is close at hand while hosting political leaders of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization in Doha, adding that Hamas are \u201cterrorists with American blood on their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Meshal Hamad Al-Thani, ambassador of the State of Qatar to the United States, responded that he had earlier explained that the channel of communication between Qatar and Hamas was set up at the request of the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenator, as I explained to you when I met you last week, the channel with Hamas was established in Qatar at the request of the US to maintain open lines of communication,\u201d\u00a0Al<\/a>\u2013<\/a>Thani wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are focused on the negotiations and working hard with all sides to help release more hostages safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Budd responded that he believes Hamas is stalling for time among international efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Ambassador, I appreciate the Qatari government\u2019s efforts to get Hamas to release hostages. But Hamas terrorists are using your hospitality to buy time,\u201d\u00a0he wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must hold Hamas accountable for the blood on its hands, the hostages they illegally hold, and the war they started. I hope we can agree on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Biden administration has praised Qatar for working assiduously to negotiate among Hamas, the U.S. and Israel for the release of an estimated 240 hostages, even as American officials have said that Doha\u2019s historic position as a safe haven for Hamas political leaders may be in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u00a0said after a meeting in Qatar<\/a>\u00a0at the end of October that he had raised in Doha that \u201cthere can be no more business as usual with Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, has said that Qatari officials in Doha are \u201cabsolutely\u201d putting pressure on Hamas\u2019s political officials living in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have two stalwart partners, Qatar and Egypt, who are working methodically, relentlessly at this issue,\u201d she said of efforts to secure the release of hostages. \u201cThe problem is who they\u2019re dealing with,\u201d she added, referring to Hamas.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they\u2019re exercising every bit of their influence and energy to try and break the impasse on the hostages.\u201d<\/p>\n

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We have two stalwart partners, Qatar and Egypt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[142,128],"tags":[],"series":[1027],"coauthors":[238],"class_list":["post-12454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-most-important-topics-en","category-updates-en","series-whia-synergy"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/whia.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/\u062a\u0645\u064a\u0645-2.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/whia.us\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/feed\/podcast\/whia-synergy","embedCode":"

GOP senator, Qatar ambassador spar over Hamas in Doha<\/a><\/blockquote>