‘Total regional war’ a risk without end to Gaza fighting – Qatar

The Emir of Qatar is embarking on a two day state visit to the UK.

Investment and trade aren’t the only topics on the table.

How to address the dangerous escalation in hostilities in the Middle East is also on the agenda.

We spoke about all this with Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Dr Majed al-Ansari in Doha.

Matt Frei: Does Qatar still believe Britain is an attractive place to invest in?

Dr Majed al-Ansari: Well, I don’t want to sound like the British commerce minister, but I can tell you very clearly that we have great confidence in the great British economy. All through the difficult times and in your history and the world’s history, investments in the UK have been very stable. They have a great return on investment. And the great thing I think about Britain is that you always keep calm and carry on, even economically.

Matt Frei:  I’m not sure the people here are quite as convinced of that as you are. Let’s turn to other matters in the Middle East. You’ve built up a reputation for being the go-betweens in some very, very tricky situations and indeed we will speak about Gaza and Israel in a minute. But first of all, on Syria. How worried are you by developments in Syria just in recent days?

Dr Majed al-Ansari: Yes, of course. We are always afraid that the situation in Syria is not stable and not sustainable. And what has happened in the last couple of days has proven this very clearly, that the sustainability of the frozen conflict in Syria is a mirage that we shouldn’t be complacent with.

Matt Frei: Is the Assad regime supported by Russia and Iran the best guarantee, in your mind, for keeping Syria sort of in one piece?

Dr Majed al-Ansari: Not at all. We have always said that the regime has committed atrocities that cannot be forgiven. And this is why we have this confrontation today. It’s because the regime has failed utterly in creating a situation of stability in Syria, even to the minimum extent.

Matt Frei: Is it possible that Qatar could host some kind of mediation or peace talks, for the future of Syria?

Dr Majed al-Ansari: The Qatari position since the beginning of the war has been very clear in condemning the regime. We have not normalised relations with the regime, and therefore we know that the regime wouldn’t look favourably to Qatar as a mediator. That said, we are ready to jump in at any time.

Matt Frei: As I said earlier, your country has developed a bit of a successful side hustle as mediators and negotiators in some very, very difficult situations, including Venezuela, Russia and then, of course, Hamas, Israel and Gaza. But those talks between Hamas and Israel have failed. And I just wonder whether you can tell me from a Qatari perspective why they failed?

Dr Majed al-Ansari: Well, first of all, let me tell you very clearly that mediation for Qatar is not a side hustle. If you look at our constitution, it’s the only constitution in the world that states that mediation is the main tool of our foreign policy. We believe in it, it is in our DNA, and we have been since April re-assessing our role as mediator between Hamas and Israel because we were convinced that there was not enough seriousness on both sides. When there was a deal on the table, when there was language that was supposedly acceptable to both sides, a deal did not materialise because one side decided to sabotage the talks. And as I said, we will not be political punching bags for those who want to use the mediation as a way just of, you know, pacifying its own people.

Matt Frei: And that must have been very painful for you, to invest all that time and that energy and also your reputation, and then end up with very little at the end of it.

Dr Majed al-Ansari: For months since the 7th of October, the team did not take any even day or hour off. I know that one of our negotiators spent ten hours on one phone call, attempting to deliver one of the hostages during the pause in November. But we have to remember that the only success in the mediation has happened throughout this mediation in November, and it helped release a number of 109 hostages and hundreds of prisoners from the Palestinian side. And we have seen that only seven days have come as a result of this mediation.

Matt Frei: Beyond the talks, where do you see the future of this particular problem in the Middle East, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? And do you think that the arrival of President Trump on the 20th of January in the White House will make a significant difference to this?

Dr Majed al-Ansari: Now when it comes to the future of the Palestinian issue, we have always said very clearly that unless the Palestinian issue is addressed in its entirety and in a holistic approach, there will be no end to the cycles of violence in the region. This is what we said when there were several attempts to sideline the Palestinian issue. Obviously, I would say that we have to give this administration the benefit of the doubt. We hope that there will be engagement and through engagement with players like Qatar, they would see things pragmatically and as they are. But we have worked very positively with the consecutive administrations, including the first Trump administration, over the issues of the region. And we’re hoping to continue this.

Matt Frei: There are so many different fuses lying around the world, and the world is really a big powder keg at the moment. Which fuse worries you the most?

Dr Majed al-Ansari: I think the main concern is for the escalation in the region to become total war, total regional war. And you have seen that almost happened with the escalation between Iran and Israel. Through mediation of countries like Qatar and exchanging messages, we were able to downplay that threat. But that threat always remains if the war in Gaza doesn’t end. If the situation in Lebanon is not pacified, we will end with total regional conflict, which is something none of us in the region can have and will have repercussions on the world as a whole.