Hamas leaders have left Qatar. Where are they?

The Hamas senior leadership and its negotiating team that resided in Qatar are no longer in the country, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry, triggering speculations about the whereabouts of the top leadership of the Palestinian resistance group which is at the forefront of defying the ongoing Israeli invasion and brutal air assaults.

While Doha recently suspended its mediation efforts to secure a long-lasting ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, its foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari confirmed to the media that the Hamas leaders involved in the negotiations have left the country.

Ansari however dispelled speculations that Qatar had formally shut down Hamas’s office in Doha.

Israel has a history of assassinating Palestinian resistance leaders in Palestine and abroad. From Ahmad Yassin to Yasser Arafat to Ismail Haniyeh, the list goes on.

With recent US elections enabling the return of Donald Trump as the country’s 47th president, who quickly took advantage of the Congress recess and filled some key administrative positions, Republican-led Washington looks hawkish, staunchly pro-Israel and menacing for states seeking a middle path in regional conflicts.

Now with Qatar confirming that the top Hamas leaders have left the country, it remains to be seen which country would host them.

Media reports suggest Israel mounting pressure on the Biden administration to arm-twist countries like Qatar to turn their back on Hamas and set the stage for the incoming Trump administration to go up a few notches and make life difficult for the Palestinian resistance leaders outside of Gaza.

Hamas’s regional allies, such as Iran and Lebanon, are no longer safe for their top leaders. Israel has penetrated deep into their security establishments, targeting senior resistance leaders at will.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran in July this year, followed by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination in Beirut just two months later, demonstrated that both countries are unsafe and vulnerable to Israeli attacks.

Some Western media outlets misreported that Türkiye is their new destination, but the Turkish foreign ministry was quick to deny such claims, saying that the Hamas office had not relocated from Doha.

On November 18, Hamas also denied the unsubstantiated reports that its leadership had moved to Türkiye.

The Biden administration responded to the reports, taking a position that is in line with the Israeli state’s position on Hamas – which is to bump off their leaders wherever they are found.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington believes Hamas leaders deserve no place on earth.

Qatar played a key role in US-Taliban negotiations, helping the Biden administration to pull out from Afghanistan, and eliciting praise from the leading global institutions such as the UN Security Council.

But this time, things are different. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s growing appetite for war has hindered many peace efforts to date, which could tarnish Qatar’s reputation as a successful arbiter, forcing the Gulf state to suspend its mediation.