The Qatari government has informed the US and Israel it will stop mediation efforts to halt the conflict in Gaza because it no longer thinks the parties are negotiating in good faith

Qatar informed Israel, Hamas officials, the US and Egypt of the decision after a US delegation including the CIA director, Bill Burns, visited Doha for inconclusive meetings in late October.

Its government had concluded that the warring parties were focused on “political optics” rather than genuine security concerns, the diplomatic source said, and had tried to undermine the process “by backing out from some of the commitments”.

In April Doha had briefly asked Hamas commanders to leave the country, after the prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, announced Qatar was going to review its mediation role. They headed to Turkey but within weeks Israel and the US government had asked Qatar to bring them back in order to intensify negotiations. The Qataris are trusted by senior figures on and have a long track record in mediation.

Western and regional politicians and diplomats who favour allowing Hamas to stay in Qatar warned that if it is pushed out, it will hinder engagement with Hamas figures potentially more inclined to compromise, and could allow more hostile states such as Iran to boost their hold over the group.