Saudi, Qatari foreign ministers discuss regional developments, de-escalation efforts
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan received a call from Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken categorically denied on Wednesday that he instructed Qatar to delay efforts to broker a rapid agreement between Hamas and Israel, a claim attributed to him in a Tuesday Haaretz article. Blinken clarified in a post on X/Twitter that the assertion was "complete fiction." Haaretz had reported that UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan had warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Hamas' intentions for an attack days before the October 7 massacre.
The report further alleged that Blinken spoke with Qatari Emir Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani about the situation on the evening of October 7. According to Haaretz, the Qatari emir had reportedly expressed support for mediating a swift deal for the release of hundreds of hostages, but Blinken allegedly disagreed, stating, "Let's wait," and promising to speak with Netanyahu personally.
The former secretary of state also reportedly informed the Qatari leader that he would travel to Israel within three days of their conversation.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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