Israel-Hamas war: Qatari diplomatic expert explains Qatar’s role in the conflict

what is now known as the niche capability uh that Qatar has been practicing successfully for the past good part of two decades in negotiation and de escalatory diplomacy and Qatar has proven that in the past and brought this to bear this time as well the uh temporary truce between Israel and Hamas is now in its third day uh there were a few anxious hours last night when the release of the second group of hostages was delayed however just minutes ago we understand that 14 Israel hostages and three foreign hostages have been transferred to the Red Cross another 39 Palestinian prisoners are due to be released meanwhile Hamas says that five of its commanders have been killed including the head of its North Gaza Brigade in a post on X the Israeli forces have confirmed that the men were targeted before the current temporary Ceasar well joining us now is a real expert in uh the Qatari role and it's a really important role that the the Qatari authorities have been playing in this conflict and negotiating this tempor uh ceas far I'm delighted to be joined by noaf Alfani who is a former Qatari defense attachi to the US he joins me now noaf welcome to the show thank you for having me aa so listen I just want to sort of start with a A really basic question that I think a lot of my listeners will be interested in in knowing why has Qatar played such an important role Qatar has been Central in in a lot of the backroom diplomacy why is this the the case what is qatar's interest here well qatar's interest is twofold the first obviously being in the Middle East it has a national interest to have peace in the region because we're a small country in the region and there is that National interest the second is the uh what is now known as a niche capability uh that has been practicing successfully for the past good part of two decades in negotiation and de escalatory diplomacy and Qatar has proven that in the past and brought this to bear this time as well now um the Qatari uh delegation that that that landed in in Israel how significant are are the meetings that are happening at the moment well the meetings are happening uh mainly in Doha they are there's a um operation centers set up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha that deals with the negotiation part of of the operation but it's a two-faced coin the other one is the humanitarian side there is also a delegation led by um uh Minister Lula alhat she is an expert in humanitarian operations and she is in the southern part of Gaza uh today arrived to U coordinate humanitarian Aid with uh humanitarian organizations like the international cross and others and we understand that um a number of Israeli hostages have just been released a few moments ago 14 um Israeli hostages another three foreign um hostages the um the ceasefire is due to end tomorrow do you think that will still happen do you think there could be any extension to to the ceasefire well the kataris are hopeful the Prime Minister just a few moments ago uh in a news confer in a news interview actually with CBS said we we are hopeful if Hamas could at least produce a list of hostages that could be released in the coming days that the list itself could be uh presented to the Israelis as somewhat of an assurance or Goodwill moving forward plus um right now and I see the number in front of me we are at 59 released hostages which is very good where we're you know beyond the you know the numbers that were expected it was expected that 50 hostages released in the total of four days at the end of day three were at 59 44 of them Israeli citizens so I think we're hopeful um I think the qaris are hopeful the signs are there that they could be an extension for the truce um my producer has just uh telling me that Benjamin Netanyahu is in the region and he has said that he doesn't think there should be any extension to that um ceasefire do do you think that is the the case is he sort of now being very tough on this or do you think there's any scope for movement from his side well unfortunately we've heard that rhetoric for uh a while now um it seems to be the new conservative line in the Israeli government as it stands the Israeli government and the Palestinian civilians more than the qataris who are mediating have more to gain by this succeeding now the qataris have helped with releasing 44 citizens and in total 59 hostages but you know I believe that that Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have more to gain by continuing on the road that the qataris and others like the Egyptians and the Americans have helped lay down to release the rest of the hostages it's been working so far I believe it should be continued and given a chance to fully succeed now um now if Qatar has received a lot of praise for its um role in terms of of the diplomacy but it has attracted some criticism as well um former Israeli president naftali Bennett criticized um some people for praising Qatar saying look at the end of the day Qatar still supports Hamas there are many of the the leadership of Hamas who who live a very comfortable life um in um in uh Qatar um what would you say to to those people saying on the one hand yes you you've got praise for uh doing these negotiations but but you're also letting some of these terrorists sort of live amongst you well the fact of the matter that's a very common misconception unfortunately um number one the Hamas political office that is was established is still established in Qatar for the past decade came about by coordination and request from uh the United States uh and the Israelis to alleviate pressure in Israel it was not a Qatari um initiation on its own it was it was something done in coordination and By Request some people have short memories and forget that um however the National Security adviser of Israel I'm I'm guessing knows more about Israel's own security uh praised qar for that for that effort so it's maybe more political wrangling for the for the local uh news in Israel the facts are known the reason why Qatar has been doing this is known it's not a Qatari in initiative it's an international initiative that Qatar has proven successful in alleviating pressure from Israel in the past and today by releasing 59 hostages now let's look to the Future what do you think any kind of successful future looks like do you think there is any chance of a a two-state solution and what will the role be for Qatar in in the future um would Qatar be involved having a rule actually in Gaza or or would Qatar like to be involved in rebuilding Gaza what do you think the future looks like well the future you know katar has been very clear that a you know two-state solution a viable Israeli and Palestinian States in peace leaving side by side is should be the Instinct now that that idea obviously is not very popular in the Israeli side at the moment somewhat understandably somewhat criticized from from others Al to be fair many leaders in Hamas don't want that either they want to sort of completely eradicate Israel as well so you got two leaderships who don't seem signed up to that well qatar's view is clear at least I mean that is the Qatari View and that is the consensus of the Arab League the Arab Nations and in fact every nation in the world agrees upon that again as a nation the only one who objects to that is Israel but that's not the important point unfortunately speaking right now right now I I think Qatar and many in the in the region are focused on the truce being expanded that moving towards a second phase of cessation of hostilities and then assessing the situation on the ground to lay the ground hopefully for a two-state solution but I think the Focus right now is rightfully on what is in front of us which is the uh truce expanding into more than this just the four days and hopefully A cation of violence moving forward actually just one other percussions popped into my head how how um productive has America been behind the the scenes Anthony blink and Joe Biden H how useful do you think and helpful do you think they've been well I'm not having privilege in information obviously from my experience working in the United States I believe the US have been extremely helpful the Qatari government have said that that they've been helpful the Egyptians as well uh the us obviously is in is in a tight spot with an coming you know about an less than a year from now but I think they've done a lot and should continue to do more to support Qatar and and Egypt and others who want to see peace and nonviolence as a as a way to move forward and to end this war which has claimed you know around 15,000 civilians unfortunately uh many of them children as well it's heartbreaking I think we should all move forward enough killing and I don't think I don't think anyone has the stomach for another forever [Music] waren

Channel: Times Radio

Views: 10,128

Keywords: israel palestine conflict, israel hamas conflict explained, hamas israel conflict explained, israel gaza conflict, israel hamas conflict in hindi, israel hamas conflict, war in israel, israeli-palestinian conflict, conflict, israel-palestine conflict, israel launches air strikes in gaza, palestine israel conflict, israel palestine conflict history, hamas israel conflict, israel palestine conflict live, pm modi on israel hamas conflict, israel palestine conflict crash course

Id: Si4eYPBPADI

Length: 10min 21sec (621 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 26 2023