‘Qatar not mediating with Houthis,’ Qatari premier says

ISTANBUL

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Monday said his country is not currently engaged with Yemen’s Houthis over their tension with the US.

"Qatar is not mediating with Houthis, but Qatar is pressing Iran to de-escalate regional security situation," Sheikh Mohammed said at the Atlantic Council in Washington, according to the Doha-based Al Jazeera channel.

Houthis said they have been targeting Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, prompting the US and Britain to launch retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi targets inside Yemen.

Asked about the Palestinian Hamas group's office in Doha, he said the office is used as a communication channel.

To a question about the future Palestinian state, Sheikh Mohammed said: "Our position is that the fate of the Palestinians should remain in the hands of the Palestinians."

"They (the Palestinians) are the ones who should decide what will be the way forward," he added.

Qatar is actively engaged in talks and mediation efforts between Israel and the Hamas group on a possible cease-fire deal in Gaza.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 26,637 Palestinians and injuring 65,387. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar