Ceasefire talks in limbo after Rafah offensive, says Qatar; Malaysia’s PM meets Hamas delegation

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with a Hamas delegation during his visit to Qatar, in a fresh show of support for the group designated a terrorist organisation by the US.

Pro-Palestinian protesters at Harvard University were clearing out their weekslong encampment without achieving their primary demand: forcing the school to cut its financial ties to Israel. 

Israel, Hamas talks in limbo after Rafah move — Qatar PM

Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas had reached an impasse following the Jewish state’s ground offensive on the outskirts of the Gazan city of Rafah, according to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Over the past few weeks, “we have seen some momentum building but unfortunately things didn’t move in the right direction”, Sheikh Mohammed said at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday. “Right now, we are in a status of almost a stalemate.”

Negotiations to secure at least a pause in hostilities in the seven-month war have been deadlocked for months, with the two sides far apart on elements such as the status of Israeli troops in Gaza and the terms of a release of hostages held by Hamas and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners. International mediators include Qatar, Egypt and the US.

Israel has at the same time begun what it calls a limited expansion of the military campaign into Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the conflict and some are now fleeing. Troops have begun to enter parts of the city, while fighting has resumed in northern areas of the enclave as Hamas starts to regroup.

The prime minister defended Qatar’s decision to host Hamas’ political bureau in the country, saying the Iran-backed group’s presence had in the past helped mediate other hostage negotiations and kept lines of communication open for future talks. Qatar has previously said it hosts Hamas in Doha at the request of the US.

Helping to resolve conflict is at the heart of Qatar’s foreign policy, said Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s minister of foreign affairs. Still, “our job is limited in mediation role”, he said.

Israel has been critical of what it says is Qatar’s reluctance to pressure Hamas to make concessions in the ceasefire talks, which aim to bring an end to a war that began when Hamas militants went on a deadly rampage in southern Israel on 7 October.

About 450,000 people have left Rafah, located near the Egyptian border, in recent days, according to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, warning those fleeing “face constant exhaustion, hunger and fear”.

Israel has warned civilians to flee before an expected full-scale assault. The military says it needs to attack Rafah to target thousands of remaining Hamas fighters and some leaders it believes are based in the city.

Israel’s invasion of Rafah had “set us back a little bit”, the prime minister said. “There is a fundamental difference between the two parties. There is a party who wants to end the war and then talk about the hostages and then there is a party who wants the hostages and wants to continue the war.”

He appeared to be referring to the Hamas demand for the ceasefire to be permanent, which Israel won’t accept.

Malaysia PM meets Hamas chief in Qatar in show of support

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with a Hamas delegation during his visit to Qatar, in a fresh show of support for the group designated a terrorist organisation by the US.

Anwar expressed Malaysia’s gratitude toward Hamas for its willingness to release hostages and accept a peace plan put forward by the Arab world, according to a Facebook post on Tuesday. He also called on Israel to end its attacks on Palestinians, release prisoners and agree to the plan.

“Malaysia will remain committed to play its role on the international level for an end to the attacks on Rafah,” Anwar said in the Facebook post.

Anwar has been the staunchest advocate of the Palestinian cause in Southeast Asia, saying last year Malaysia would not recognise what he said was a unilateral attempt by the US to restrict support of Hamas. Malaysian leaders have a long history of friendly ties with the group and routinely turn up at protests at home against the US and the Western world’s support of Israel.

Read more: Why Malaysia recognises Hamas and what it means for US ties

Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, led the delegation, Anwar said. The prime minister conveyed his condolences to Haniyeh on the death of his family. Anwar was also given an update on the latest situation in Gaza and Rafah.

Anwar has taken on more pro-Islamic views since coming to power in 2022 to appeal to the ethnic Malay majority, who are Muslim by law.

Harvard protests end with whimper as Israel divestment demands fail

Pro-Palestinian protesters at Harvard University were clearing out their weekslong encampment without achieving their primary demand: forcing the university to cut its financial ties to Israel.

It’s become a pattern. Demonstrators at Northwestern and Brown also took down their tents and tables recently, assuaged by the universities’ promises to consider their pleas. The protesters initially viewed this as progress in their Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns to drive the universities’ endowments to divest from the Jewish state and weapons makers.

They are now confronting a tough reality: Their universities aren’t going to do it.

“We are under no illusions: we do not believe these meetings are divestment wins,” the group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine wrote in an Instagram post. “These side-deals are intended to pacify us away from full disclosure & divestment.”

Harvard has agreed to consider requests to reinstate students who were suspended for taking part in protests. President Alan Garber would also “pursue a meeting” between demonstrators and the chair of the committee that oversees shareholder responsibility as well as other university leaders, a spokesperson for the school said. Harvard would answer questions about its endowment and will not discuss divestment.

While administrators at universities across the US, including the University of Minnesota, Rutgers and Sacramento State, agreed to listen to activists’ pleas, the idea of actually selling holdings in Israeli assets or defence stocks was a non-starter given the opaque nature of many endowments and their investments, the pushback from donors and potential conflict with anti-BDS laws in many states.

The issue is central to protesters who believe severing financial ties to Israel will pressure the country to stop its military operation in Gaza.

Erdoğan says more than 1,000 Hamas members treated in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan underscored his support for Hamas, saying more than 1,000 members of the organisation were being treated in Turkey.

Palestinians were known to have been brought to Turkey for treatment during the war between Israel and Hamas. This marks the first time the Turkish president has publicly announced that Hamas members are also receiving treatment in the country.

Erdoğan hosted Hamas’s political leader in Istanbul on 20 April to discuss the need for a permanent ceasefire and accelerated humanitarian aid in Gaza. DM

Read more in Daily Maverick: Israel-Palestine War