Qatar agreed in recent weeks to kick Hamas out of its country following a request from the US to do so, capping off months of failed attempts to try to get the militant group – whose top leaders reside in the Qatari capital of Doha – to accept a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war,

Qatar will stop trying to mediate a Gaza ceasefire deal until Hamas and Israel show a "sincere willingness" to return to the negotiating table, an official briefed on the matter told Reuters on Saturday,