Yoon Seok-yeol’s ‘economic cooperation’ for ‘hostage release’ through mediation between the US and Arab resistance forces in Qatar
Qatar is a Middle Eastern monarchy that runs Hamas' political office in the capital Doha and pays wages to Hamas officials. It is demanding the 'release of civilians' for the prisoners abducted by Israel, leading to a sharp confrontation at President Yoon Seok-yeol's economic cooperation summit with Qatar. It looks like
An official from the President's Office said, "Qatar is building a multifaceted network with countries with diverse interests, and through this, it has been playing its role as a mediator in the region. Cooperation plans to promote peace in the Middle East and strengthen our security." “We want to discuss,” he said on the 24th, limiting the discussion to “Middle East peace.”
In an interview with the state-run news agency QNA before arriving in Qatar, President Yoon said, "We will expand the areas of cooperation that have focused on energy and construction to investment, defense industry, agriculture, culture, and human exchanges, and create ways for the people of both countries to enjoy more practical benefits." “We want to promote cooperation programs,” he said, announcing the agenda of “economic cooperation.” Regarding the summit with Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on the 25th, President Yoon said, “As Korean businessmen are also accompanying us on this visit, the two countries will cooperate.” “I hope this will be an opportunity for businesspeople to come together to discuss and plan cooperative projects,” he told QNA.
An official from the President's Office said, "Qatar is building a multifaceted network with countries with diverse interests, and through this, it has been playing its role as a mediator in the region. Cooperation plans to promote peace in the Middle East and strengthen our security." “We would like to discuss,” he said.
On the other hand, regarding Qatar's mediation for the release of hostages, “Under the ceasefire agreement Hamas reached with Israel in the past, the gas-rich emirate of Qatar will pay the salaries of civil servants in the Gaza Strip, provide direct cash transfers to poor families, and provide other kinds of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” “Qatar's negotiations emerge from a delicate international balancing act as it seeks to maintain close security ties with the United States and maintain ties with those considered armed groups by the West,” the Associated Press said on the 24th.
In Doha, Qatar, there is a Hamas political office established in 1997, and current and former members of Hamas reside there.
In 1997, during Netanyahu's first term as prime minister, Mossad agents attempted to assassinate then-Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Amman, Jordan, using a fake Canadian passport to enter Jordan and poison Mashaal in the ear, while Jordan's King Hussein denied sovereignty. In response to the violation, Israel declared that 'the peace agreement would be null and void upon Marshall's death', so Israel dispatched an antidote, and Marshall was revived and went to Qatar.
Ismail Haniyeh, who has been in exile for two years, has been granted a new four-year term as chairman of the Hamas political office in Doha by the Islamist group's top decision-making body, the Shura Council.
The United States sanctioned Mashal in 2003 on the grounds that he was "responsible for overseeing assassination campaigns, bombings, and killings of Israeli settlers," and in 2018, Haniyeh "had close ties to the Hamas military wing and supported the armed struggle against civilians." He was put on the list of sanctions, saying, “I have been doing it.”
“If they stop this invasion, mediators like Qatar and Egypt and some Arab countries and others will find a way to release them and we will send them home,” Marshall told the AP about the hostages.
U.S. Central Command's sprawling Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar served as a key node during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Qatari government negotiated with Taliban officials to end America's longest war in Afghanistan. accepted them.
As the frontline headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command, Al-Udeid Air Base is called the 'balance of risk' and is the background for the U.S. to treat Qatar as a 'major ally' even though it is not a member of NATO.
Doha, the Qatari capital, is a stopover for expanded defense trade and security cooperation with the United States, including priority delivery of certain military sales.
“If Israel stops its airstrikes, the hostages taken during the Hamas attacks could be released,” Marshall told Sky News. “We will find a way and we will send them home,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Doha last week during shuttle diplomacy, and State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on the 23rd, "Qatar is a long-standing partner of ours who responds to our requests because we believe that innocent civilians should be released."
Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has freely expressed the Arab world's anger over Israel's constant air strikes and siege of the Gaza Strip following the Hamas attack.
Qatar's power was demonstrated by the pan-Arab satellite news network Al Jazeera broadcasting statements from Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, including images of the dead and dead, which sparked protests in the Middle East and around the world, as well as the war against Hamas. There was non-stop coverage of the damage caused by Israel's harsh airstrikes.
Despite its small population and military, Qatar, a peninsula that sticks out like a thumb in the Persian Gulf, has always been wary of its larger neighbors Saudi Arabia and Iran, and has been mediating for years in political disputes between the four major Arab powers and Israel.
David B. Roberts, an associate professor at King's College London and a Qatar researcher, said, "By suffocating an outraged Iran with sanctions, Qatar is walking a 'tightrope in international relations'. The reality is that many senior government officials in Israel and the United States are Qatar wants to have this role. "Qatar will ultimately be viewed in a generally positive light on efforts to free these hostages," he told the AP.
In a joint declaration at the summit with Saudi Arabia, President Yoon said, “In the field of defense and security, both sides seek to promote cooperation and coordination in the field of defense and defense in a way that meets the common interests of both countries and contributes to regional and international security and the establishment of peace.” He expressed his will,” limiting security to ‘regional peace coordination’.
Immediately after President Yoon left for Doha, the Saudi Crown Prince met with U.S. President Biden and announced on the 24th that “the two sides welcomed the continued efforts to release hostages held by Hamas and called for their immediate release.”
The White House announced today that the two leaders agreed to pursue broader diplomatic efforts "to maintain stability across the region and prevent the conflict from escalating" and that the two leaders will maintain close cooperation.
The White House's announcement "will build on the work already underway between Saudi Arabia and the United States in recent months," as the two leaders affirmed the importance of working toward "sustainable peace" between Israel and Palestine. location was confirmed.
The White House went on to say that Biden and the Saudi crown prince welcomed humanitarian aid from Egypt to the Gaza Strip and recognized that "civilians need much more" for continued access to food, water and medical assistance, and that Israel -They said they discussed efforts to prevent the Hamas conflict from expanding.