DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Qatar has suspended its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israelit said on Saturday, following growing frustration over the lack of progress on a Gaza ceasefire deal.

It was not immediately clear whether the remaining Hamas leadership hosted by Qatar would have to leave or where it would go. Hamas has good relations with Iran and Turkey, and some of its leaders are now in Lebanon.

However, Qatar is highly likely to return to mediation efforts if both sides show “serious political will” to reach an agreement, according to an official with Egypt, the other key mediator.

Qatar told Israel and Hamas that it cannot continue to mediate “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate an agreement in good faith” and “as a consequence, the political office of Hamas no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar, a diplomatic source informed about the matter said. Qatar told Hamas it must leave if it is not ready to enter into serious negotiations, the source said.

In Washington, a US official said the Biden administration informed Qatar two weeks ago that the continued operation of the Hamas office in Doha was no longer useful and that the Hamas delegation should be expelled.

A senior US official said that after Hamas rejected final proposal for a truceQatar accepted the advice and informed the Hamas delegation of the decision 10 days ago.

A senior Hamas official said they were aware of Qatar’s decision to suspend mediation, “but no one told us to leave.” Hamas has repeatedly demanded an end to the war and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as a condition for a ceasefire agreement. Israel seeks the return of all hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and insists on a presence in Gaza.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office had no comment.

Late Saturday, the state-run Qatar News Agency published comments attributed to Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, confirming that Doha informed the parties to the talks 10 days ago that it “would stop its efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel on a agreement was not reached in that round.”

“Qatar will resume these efforts with its partners once the parties demonstrate their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians,” the report said.

There continued to be no end in sight to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, with Israel’s military saying it struck command centers and other militant infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs and elsewhere. An Israeli airstrike on the southern port city of Tyre late Friday killed at least seven, officials and one resident said.

Hezbollah “should continue (the fight) and we will continue to support them even if we lose our families, our homes and end up in the dirt,” said a Beirut resident, Mohammed Mekdad, as people searched through the smoking rubble.

In Gaza, Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people on Saturday, Palestinian doctors said, while Israel announced the first provision of humanitarian aid for weeks to the territory’s hungry, devastated north.

An attack hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighborhood, killing at least six people, the territory’s health ministry said. Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead, it said. Israel’s army said the attack targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, without offering any evidence.

Another Israeli attack killed seven people, including two women and a child, in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’s army did not respond to a request for comment.

And an Israeli strike hit tents in the courtyard of central Gaza’s main hospital, killing at least three people and wounding a local journalist, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah said. It was the eighth Israeli attack on the association since March.

Israel says aid trucks are reaching northern Gaza

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said 11 aid trucks carrying food, water and medical equipment reached the enclave’s far north on Thursday. It is the first time any aid has reached there since Israel launched a new military campaign last month.

But not all aid reached the agreed drop-off points, according to the UN’s World Food Programme. In the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya, Israeli troops stopped a convoy heading to nearby Beit Lahiya and ordered supplies to be unloaded, WFP spokesperson Alia Zaki said.

Israel’s offensive has focused on Jabaliya, where Israel says Hamas had regrouped. Other affected areas are Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun just north of Gaza City.

US deadline looms for Israel

The aid announcement came days before one US deadline demands that Israel improve aid deliveries across Gaza or risk losing access to US arms financing. The US says Israel must allow at least 350 trucks a day carrying food and other supplies.

A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, published on Thursday said there is a high probability that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza, the territory’s most isolated area.

COGAT rejected these findings, saying the report relied “on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”

No emergency services operate north of Gaza City

The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people remain in northern Gaza. Earlier this week, the health ministry said there were no ambulances or rescue workers operating north of Gaza City.

The conflict has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to UN figures.

More than a year of war in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.

The war started after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abduct 250 others. About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third are believed to be dead.

“It’s been 400 days and the hostages are still in Gaza. There is a war without direction. It’s so sad,” said Eial Tiskim, who attended the latest protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand a ceasefire agreement.

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Magdy reported from Cairo and Lee from Washington. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffery contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.

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