The United States has told Qatar that Hamas’ presence in Doha is no longer acceptable in the weeks after the Palestinian militant group rejected the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.

The small Gulf state, Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, has played a major role in rounds of so far unsuccessful negotiations aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the war that has lasted since a year in Gaza. The last round of negotiations, in mid-October, failed to reach an agreement, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.

“After rejecting repeated offers to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any U.S. partner. We made this clear to Qatar after Hamas’ rejection a few years ago weeks, of another proposal for the release of hostages,” said the senior official, speaking at the press conference. condition of anonymity.

Qatar then made this request to Hamas leaders about ten days ago, the official said. Washington has been in contact with Qatar about when to close the group’s political office, and has told Doha that the time is right.

Three Hamas officials have denied that Qatar told Hamas leaders they were no longer welcome in the country. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was unclear whether the Qataris had set a specific deadline for Hamas leaders to leave the country.

President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing to make a final push to end Israeli attacks in Gaza and Lebanon. This week’s election of Republican Donald Trump as the next president of the United States has significantly reduced Biden’s influence in his final weeks in office.

In previous rounds of ceasefire negotiations, disagreements over new demands presented by Israel for a future military presence in Gaza have stood in the way of an agreement, even after Hamas accepted a version of a proposed ceasefire. ceasefire unveiled by Biden in May.

Hamas considered at the time that Israel had moved the goalposts on a deal “to the last minute,” and feared that any concessions it made would be met by new demands, a source told Reuters in August close to the talks.

Last November, this line of negotiations in Doha led to a seven-day truce in Gaza, allowing the release of dozens of hostages held in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Humanitarian aid also flowed to the destroyed coastal strip, but hostilities quickly resumed and have continued since.

“END HOSPITALITY IN HAMAS”

Qatar, an influential Gulf state designated as a major non-NATO ally by Washington, has hosted Hamas political leaders since 2012 as part of an agreement with the United States.

Following the October 7 attack in southern Israel, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Qatari leaders and elsewhere in the region that there could no longer be “business as usual” with Hamas.

The Qataris told Blinken they were willing to reconsider Hamas’ presence in the country when the time comes.

Israel’s retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, reduced the enclave to a desert and triggered a humanitarian catastrophe.

Doha has been criticized by U.S. lawmakers over its ties to the group.

On Friday, 14 U.S. Republican senators wrote a letter to the State Department calling on Washington to immediately freeze the assets of Hamas officials living in Qatar, extradite several senior Hamas officials living in Qatar, and ask Qatar “to put end his hospitality towards senior Hamas leaders. “.

Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, has repeatedly stated over the past year that the Hamas office existed in Doha to enable negotiations with the group and that as long as this channel remained useful, the Qatar would allow Hamas office to remain open.

It is unclear how many Hamas officials live in Doha, but among them are several leaders touted as possible replacements for leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israeli forces killed in Gaza last month.