Qatar PM speaks with Hamas chief on Gaza truce

Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, held a phone call on Friday with Khalil al-Hayya, who was recently elected head of the terrorist organization’s political bureau.

According to the Qatari Foreign Ministry’s statement, during the call, Sheikh Mohammed congratulated al-Hayya on his new role and wished him success “in serving the interests of the brotherly Palestinian people.”

Mohammed also welcomed Hamas’s reported acceptance of a roadmap to complete the second phase of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, expressing hope it would help end civilian suffering and advance “security and stability.” U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the Board of Peace, which he chairs, reached an agreement with Hamas for the complete disarmament ‌of the terrorist groups that rule and control the Gaza Strip.

“In this context, His Excellency stressed the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities and pressure Israel to fulfill its obligations under the agreement and cease its ongoing violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, thus ensuring the completion of the roadmap and achieving peace and stability in the Gaza Strip,” the Qatari leader said

Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli on Friday sharply criticized Turkey after its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met in Ankara with a Hamas delegation led by the terrorist group’s new leader.

In a post on X, Chikli accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government of becoming “the command center for Hamas’s rapists and murderers,” saying that the Islamist group’s operatives live comfortably in Turkish hotels while planning terrorist attacks in Europe.

“Erdoğan and Fidan are Hamas,” Chikli said.

According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, Fidan congratulated al-Hayya on his election as head of Hamas’s political bureau and reaffirmed Ankara’s support for what he described as the “just” Palestinian cause.

Fidan also told the Hamas delegation that Turkey would continue supporting Gaza and that he appreciated the role the terrorist organization has played in efforts to achieve peace.

The meeting appeared to be al-Hayya’s first high-level diplomatic engagement since he was elected Hamas political chief on July 20.

According to Anadolu, al-Hayya briefed Fidan on developments in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, accused Israel of expanding communities and attacking holy sites in Jerusalem, and said Hamas remained committed to ceasefire negotiations and reconciliation efforts with other Palestinian factions.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Şafak separately reported that Fidan reaffirmed Ankara’s commitment to supporting the Palestinian cause through diplomatic, political and humanitarian channels.

Al-Hayya, 65, left Gaza before Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and has since been based primarily in Qatar. He has led Hamas’s negotiating team in ceasefire talks with the United States.

In January 2025, al-Hayya described the Oct. 7 massacre, in which Hamas-led terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and abducted 251 others into Gaza, as “a source of pride for our people ... to be passed down from generation to generation.”