Washington - Saba:
The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas denied on Saturday reports that "Qatar agreed to expel Hamas officials from Doha at the request of the United States," asserting that the reports are baseless.
A senior Hamas official told CNN that these reports are a "pressure tactic," pointing out that similar allegations were previously circulated without supporting evidence.
He added: "This has been repeated without any evidence. What was reported in the Israeli media about Qatar agreeing to expel Hamas from Doha at the request of the US is unfounded and is just a pressure tactic," he said.
Earlier on Friday evening, a senior US administration official confirmed that the US had informed Qatar that Hamas's presence in Doha was "no longer acceptable" after it rejected the latest hostage proposal in Gaza.
The official told Reuters that Qatar made this request to Hamas leaders about ten days ago.
A two-day round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Doha ended without a final agreement, with the United States, Egypt and Qatar issuing a joint statement indicating that talks would resume in Cairo before the end of next week on the basis of the terms put forward in the talks.
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