Diplomatic sources tell Al Jazeera that Qatar will not accept becoming a tool to pressure negotiating parties.
Qatar has stressed that it will not accept becoming a tool to pressure any party and that it is committed to maintaining its role as an honest mediator in its mediation between Hamas and Israel, diplomatic sources told Al Jazeera Arabic.
The sources indicated on Sunday that Qatar affirms it does not impose itself on the parties and cannot undertake any mediation unless asked to do so, and this includes the current mediation between Hamas and Israel.
The sources said Qatar would not allow interference from any party that would affect the integrity of its role.
The diplomatic sources said Qatari mediation disturbed certain parties which have worked to criticise and attack it, to pressure it to transform from an honest mediator to a tool for exerting pressure on a party, something that Qatar has not done in the past, successful mediations, both international and regional, including the Palestinian file.
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has said Doha is in the process of evaluating its role in this mediation, stressing that Qatar sees this mediation as being misused for narrow political interests, as they put it.
On Saturday, an informed official revealed to the Reuters news agency that Qatar might close the Hamas movement’s political office in Doha as part of a broader review of the mediation between the movement and Israel.
Hamas says it is studying proposal ‘in positive spirit’ as delegation reportedly set to visit Cairo for further talks.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has discussed the latest Israeli proposal for a truce in Gaza and an exchange of captives for prisoners with Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
Haniyeh held separate phone calls with Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Thursday.
A statement by the Palestinian group said a delegation is set to visit Egypt soon for further indirect ceasefire talks with the objective of “ending the aggression against” people in the besieged and bombarded enclave.
Haniyeh told Kamel he “appreciated the role played by Egypt”, which along with Qatar and the United States, is mediating the talks, and “stressed the positive spirit of the movement in studying the ceasefire proposal”, according to a statement on Hamas’s official website.
A separate statement by Hamas on Thursday said that Haniyeh and Qatar’s prime minister agreed to continue the discussions to “mature a deal” through Qatari and Egyptian mediation.
Hamas said on Saturday that it had received Israel’s latest position and would study it before submitting a reply.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while visiting Israel on Wednesday, urged Hamas to accept the truce plan.
“Hamas needs to say yes and needs to get this done,” Blinken said, insisting that “if Hamas actually purports to care about the Palestinian people and wants to see an immediate alleviation of their suffering, it should take this deal.”
Major sticking points
There have been significant sticking points in negotiations. Hamas has repeatedly said it would not accept a deal that does not guarantee a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the unhindered return of displaced families to their homes.
The Israeli proposal includes a halt in fighting for 40 days and the exchange of dozens of Israeli captives for many more Palestinian prisoners, according to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who described the offer as “generous”.
Egyptian state-linked media Al-Qahera News reported Thursday that “a delegation from Hamas will arrive in Cairo within the next two days to continue truce negotiations”, citing a high-level Egyptian source.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency, a Palestinian official close to the mediation also said the Hamas delegation’s visit could take place in the next two days.
Egypt recently renewed its bid to push stalled negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza and end Israel’s ongoing assault there, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to send in ground troops to the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
At least 34,596 Palestinians have been killed and 77,643 others wounded in the Israeli assault on Gaza since October, according to authorities in the territory. The Israeli assault on Gaza began after Hamas fighters led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.
Israel’s assault on Gaza has driven more than 80 percent of the territory’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in most towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
Dozens of captives were released by Palestinian groups in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails during a previous weeklong truce in late November.
Israeli forces have since arrested thousands more Palestinians in a sweeping crackdown in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as in Gaza.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says proposal includes a 40-day ceasefire and the release of captives.
The United States and the United Kingdom have urged Hamas to accept an Israeli proposal for a truce in the Gaza war and the release of some hostages held in the besieged territory.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Monday that the Israeli proposal delivered to Hamas includes a 40-day ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of “potentially thousands” of Palestinian prisoners in return for the release of some Israeli hostages.
Speaking on Monday at a World Economic Forum meeting in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Cameron described the offer as “generous”.
“I hope Hamas accepts the proposal in front of them,” he said, and stressed that the war would not end until all the captives are released.
Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he hoped that Hamas would accept the proposal.
“They have to decide – and they have to decide quickly … I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision,” Blinken said.
A woman and children flee following Israeli bombardment in Nuseirat in central Gaza [AFP]
Egypt, Qatar and the US have been working to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for months, but a flurry of diplomacy in recent days appeared to suggest a new push towards halting nearly seven months of hostilities.
At least 34,488 people have been killed and 77,643 others wounded in the Israeli assault on Gaza since October 7, according to Palestinian authorities in the besieged territory.
Israel launched its war on Gaza after Hamas fighters led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli statistics, and seizing around 250 others as hostages.
Dozens of hostages were released by Palestinian groups in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails during a previous weeklong truce in late November.
Hamas delegation to Cairo
The 40-day truce proposal comes as a senior Hamas delegation travels to Egypt for the latest round of negotiations aimed at pausing – if not stopping – Israel’s relentless war on Gaza.
Led by Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the delegation is expected to hand in the group’s response to the latest proposal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he hoped that Hamas would accept the proposal [Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via AP Photo]
Hamas has repeatedly said that it wants a permanent end to the fighting as part of any deal to release captives.
Meanwhile, hardline Israeli ministers are warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his government will collapse if a truce is agreed with Hamas in exchange for captives.
Reporting from occupied east Jerusalem, Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said the Israelis have a delegation ready to go to Cairo tomorrow, but that depends on the response from Hamas to Israel’s ceasefire proposal.
“It’s understood that the Israelis are asking for fewer than 40 of the 130 or so captives being held by Hamas, and in return for that, they’ll release Palestinian prisoners, and they’ll move to a second phase of a truce, which will offer this period of sustained calm,” he said.
Smith noted that Hamas has insisted in previous rounds of talks that it wants to secure a complete end to hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
“So the question is whether this offer of a period of ‘sustained calm’ will be enough for Hamas, considering they’ve been asking for this permanent ceasefire,” Smith said.
Israel’s war on Gaza has driven around 80 percent of the territory’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
Funds aim to provide support for children, others affected by armed conflict in Ukraine, Qatari foreign ministry says.
Qatar has announced that it will provide $3m to the office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, as part of a push to support “welfare and safety” in the war-torn country.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that the funds aim to support initiatives designed to improve the lives of children, citizens affected by armed conflicts and the overall population in Ukraine.
“Furthermore, the fund will contribute to increasing legal support and improving the necessary infrastructure required to provide the support needed for families affected by conflict in Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry and the commissioner’s office also reiterated “their dedication to a world where human dignity is respected, and where each individual’s rights are protected”.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 16 Ukrainian children who “had previously been forcibly deported” to Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine were recovering in Qatar following their release.
A group of 16 Ukrainian children and their relatives are currently in Qatar for medical, mental, and social recovery. All of them had previously been forcibly deported to Russia, but thanks to our friendly Qatar’s mediation efforts, they have been released and reunited with their…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 24, 2024
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that the group was freed and reunited with their families thanks to Qatari mediation efforts that have helped bring back dozens of children taken during the 27-month war.
“I am deeply grateful to Qatar and personally to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for assisting Ukraine in this vital effort,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on X.
“We look forward to continued fruitful cooperation on this matter, as well as the return of more of our children.”
The president’s comments came days after Qatar said 20 Ukrainian and Russian families had arrived in the Qatari capital, Doha, to be provided healthcare and support as part of the ongoing mediation efforts to reunite families.
Ukraine believes Russia has illegally taken more than 19,000 Ukrainian children since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022. Of that, fewer than 400 children have been returned.
Doha says families will receive medical, psychological and social support, state media report.
Qatar says 20 Russian and Ukrainian families have arrived in Doha to be provided healthcare and comprehensive support within Qatar’s ongoing mediation efforts to reunite families separated due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Qatari state media have reported.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Doha will host the families between April 18 and 27 to enable them to receive medical, psychological and social support, state news agency QNA reported on Saturday.
“This initiative represents a foundational step in aiding and assisting families with their recovery process. It is designed to provide comprehensive support that not only addresses immediate needs but also lays the groundwork for long-term healing and integration,” the ministry said in a statement.
“By focusing on the physical and psycho-social well-being of each family member, the program helps to foster resilience and stability, enabling families to rebuild their lives with confidence and security,” the statement said.
The programme is organised in partnership with representatives of both Russia and Ukraine, the ministry said.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory – in the east and south.
Russia has been incrementally gaining ground since the failure of Kyiv’s 2023 counteroffensive to make any serious inroads against Russian troops dug in behind minefields patrolled by drones and guarded by heavy artillery.
The Israeli military has confirmed it killed three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who says three of his grandchildren were also killed in the air attack which happened on the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Haniyeh has told Al Jazeera that Palestinian leaders will not back down if their families are targeted by the Israeli army, and that the killings will not affect Hamas’s demands in negotiations for a ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said several times he intends to shutter Al Jazeera in Israel.
The law allows for the closure of foreign media bureaus for up to 45 days, a renewable period, and would stay in effect until the end of July or until major military operations in Gaza conclude.
It also allows for the confiscation of their equipment if it is believed they pose “harm to the state’s security”.
“Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against Israeli soldiers,” Netanyahu said in a post on X on Monday. “I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity.”
Netanyahu’s comments and threats are only the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on Al Jazeera.
Has Israel threatened to shut down Al Jazeera before?
Netanyahu’s post came during significant fallout over al-Aqsa Mosque between Israeli authorities and Palestinians.
Before that, on March 12, 2008, Israel’s government press office sanctioned Al Jazeera staff in Israel after Al Jazeera TV covered celebrations following the release of Samir Kuntar from Israeli prison. Kuntar, a Lebanese Druze member of the Palestinian Liberation Front and Hezbollah, had been sentenced for murder, attempted murder and kidnapping.
Has Israel attacked Al Jazeera’s offices outside Israel?
On May 15, 2021, the al-Jalaa Tower in Gaza City, which housed the offices of Al Jazeera and The Associated Press, as well as numerous residences, was destroyed by an Israeli missile.
This was during a full-scale Israeli assault on Gaza which took place between May 10 and 21, 2021.
Has Israel harmed Al Jazeera journalists?
Most recently, on March 18, 2024, Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul was arrested for 12 hours and beaten by Israeli forces in Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. Israeli forces also destroyed media equipment.
Earlier during Israel’s current war on Gaza – on February 13, 2024 – Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and his cameraman, Ahmad Matar, were wounded in an Israeli attack north of Rafah, Gaza.
On December 15, 2023, Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, was injured in an Israeli drone attack in Khan Younis, Gaza.
And, on June 5, 2021, Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Givara Budeiri was detained for hours and physically assaulted while covering a demonstration in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Have Al Jazeera journalists been killed?
On January 7, 2024, Al Jazeera journalist Hamza Dahdouh, the eldest son of Wael Dahdouh, was killed by an Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis, Gaza. Hamza Dahdouh was in a vehicle near al-Mawasi with another journalist, Mustafa Thuraya, who was also killed in the attack.
On December 15, 2023, Al Jazeera Arabic cameraman Samer Abudaqa was hit in the same Israeli drone attack that injured Wael Dahdouh, in Khan Younis, Gaza. Abudaqa bled to death over four hours as emergency workers stood by unable to reach him because they needed Israeli military approval to go in safely.
Humanitarian organisations and other journalists pressed the military to facilitate his evacuation but the Israeli military blocked help from reaching the site as Abudaqa bled. Abudaqa had bled to death by the time help was allowed to reach him.
Dahdouh said the strike happened in an area where there was “no one but us”, adding that they were undoubtedly targeted.
A year and a half before the war on Gaza began – on May 11, 2022 – Israeli forces assassinated veteran Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as she was reporting from Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Abu Akleh was known as the “daughter of Palestine”.
Israel’s narrative on what happened to Abu Akleh shifted several times. Immediately after she was killed, Israeli authorities said Palestinian fighters had killed her, decrying accusations against Israeli soldiers.
Two days later, the Israeli army said the bullet that killed Abu Akleh could have been from an Israeli soldier. A statement released by the Israeli army added that the soldier was targeting Palestinian gunmen who had fired at him, and Abu Akleh was hit instead.
Abu Akleh’s colleagues who were with her, alongside multiple investigations, asserted that there were no Palestinian fighters in the vicinity when she was killed.
Six days later, the Israeli authorities identified the Israeli weapon that may have killed her. On September 5, 2022, Israel said there was a “high possibility” that Abu Akleh had been “accidentally hit” by Israeli army fire, but a criminal investigation would not be launched.
Has Israel harmed anyone else linked to Al Jazeera?
Israel’s attacks have extended to the families of journalist as well. On October 25, 2023, Wael Dahdouh’s wife, younger son, daughter and grandson were all killed when an Israeli air raid hit the house they were sheltering in within the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Dahdouh and his family had been displaced and were sheltering in what the Israeli army told them was a safe zone after the Israeli army ordered civilians in northern Gaza to move to the south.
The Israeli military confirmed that it was its air strike that killed Dahdouh’s family in a statement to CNN. The military added in the statement that the strike was targeting “Hamas terrorist infrastructure”.
What has Al Jazeera said about the latest threat?
The Qatar-based network rejected what it described as Israel’s “slanderous accusations” and accused Netanyahu of “incitement”.
“Al Jazeera holds the Israeli Prime Minister responsible for the safety of its staff and Network premises around the world, following his incitement and this false accusation in a disgraceful manner,” the nwtwork said in a statement.
“Al Jazeera reiterates that such slanderous accusations will not deter us from continuing our bold and professional coverage, and reserves the right to pursue every legal step.”
Revived talks on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appear to be making little progress, with the two sides showing few signs that they are ready to compromise on their demands.
Israeli objections to the return of displaced residents to their homes in Gaza is a key issue holding up the negotiations, Qatari officials said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Hamas said that it will not budge on its conditions to release captives it holds in the besieged and bombarded territory.
Alongside the United States and Egypt, Qatar has been running behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a truce and the release of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails after nearly six months of war.
“The return of the IDPs [internally displaced people] to their homes, which the Israelis didn’t agree to yet … is the main point we are stuck on,” Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told a news conference in Doha.
Another outstanding issue is the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for each hostage freed by Hamas, Sheikh Mohammed said, noting however that he believed this “can be bridged”.
However, Hamas’s senior political leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday that his movement will stick to its conditions for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Palestinian group insists that an Israeli military withdrawal must happen before it releases the remaining captives taken in its assault on southern Israel on October 7.
“We are committed to our demands: the permanent ceasefire, comprehensive and complete withdrawal of the enemy out of the Gaza Strip, the return of all displaced people to their homes, allowing all aid needed for our people in Gaza, rebuilding the Strip, lifting the blockade and achieving an honourable prisoner exchange deal,” Haniyeh said in a televised speech marking al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day.
Israel has said it is interested only in a temporary truce to free the captives, while Hamas has said it will let them go only as part of a deal to permanently end the war.
Sticking points
Sheikh Mohammed said the major sticking points remained the same as those that stymied a deal during negotiations in Paris in February.
Talks were set to resume in Cairo last Sunday, Egyptian TV channel Al-Qahera reported, two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave approval for fresh negotiations.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for the failure in achieving a deal.
In recorded comments shown at a Hezbollah meeting on Wednesday, Haniyeh said Israel “continues to procrastinate stubbornly, and does not respond to our fair demands for an end to the war and aggression”.
The day before, Netanyahu’s office claimed, after an Israeli negotiating team had returned from another round of discussions in Cairo, that Hamas has hardened its stance.
“In the framework of the talks, under useful Egyptian mediation, the mediators formulated an updated proposal for Hamas,” the premier’s office said.
However, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Tuesday that the group had not been sent any new proposals.
“The ceasefire and hostage negotiations are ongoing,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a briefing. “I wouldn’t anticipate any particular impact on those discussions as a result of the strike yesterday.”
He said the incident was not a standalone in the conflict, in which too many aid workers have been killed. “It’s not the first time that this has happened and so yes, we’re frustrated by this,” Kirby said.
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday said the intergovernmental organisation had suspended movements at night in Gaza for at least 48 hours to evaluate security issues following the incident.
The UN’s World Food Programme is continuing operations during the day, including daily efforts to send convoys to the north of Gaza “where people are dying,” Dujarric said.
“As famine closes in we need humanitarian staff and supplies to be able to move freely and safely across the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters.
Media network denounces Israeli prime minister’s ‘slanderous accusations’, says they incite against the safety of its journalists around the world.
Al Jazeera has condemned a new Israeli law that could shut down its operations in Israel and said “lies” spread by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu incited against the safety of the media network’s journalists worldwide.
As Israel’s war on Gaza nears the six-month mark, the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, on Monday overwhelmingly backed legislation which allows the government to order the closure of foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if it is believed its content posed “harm to the state’s security”.
After the vote, Netanyahu said on X he intended to take immediate action to stop Al Jazeera’s activities in Israel, accusing the network of “actively” participating in Hamas’s October 7 attack and inciting against Israeli soldiers.
Al Jazeera Media Network denounced Netanyahu’s “frantic campaign” as nothing but “dangerous” and “ludicrous” lies.
“Netanyahu could not find any justifications to offer the world for his ongoing attacks on Al Jazeera and press freedom except to present new lies and inflammatory slanders against the Network and the rights of its employees.”
In its statement, the Qatar-based news organisation also accused Netanyahu of “inflammatory slanders against the network and the rights of its employees”.
“Al Jazeera reiterates that such slanderous accusations will not deter us from continuing our bold and professional coverage, and reserves the right to pursue every legal step,” it said, adding that it held the Israeli prime minister responsible for the safety of its staff and premises around the world “following his incitement and this false accusation in a disgraceful manner”.
The network also said the law, which Israel has been pushing since the beginning of its nearly six-month war on Gaza, was “part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence Al Jazeera”.
It cited the 2022 killing of correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh while she was covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin and the killing of its journalists Samer Abudaqa and Hamza Dahdouh during the war in Gaza, as well the “deliberate targeting of a number of Al Jazeera journalists and their family members, and the arrest and intimidation of its correspondents in the field”.
Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive officer of The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said the passing of the law was “an incredibly worrying move”.
“It’s another example of the tightening of the free press and the stranglehold the Israeli government would like to exercise,” Ginsberg told Al Jazeera.
“We’ve seen this kind of language before from Netanyahu and Israeli officials in which they try to paint journalists as terrorists, as criminals,” Ginsberg said, commenting on the prime minister’s remarks. “This is nothing new.”
The CPJ says it has documented the killing of at least 95 journalists since the start of the war.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said an Israeli move to shut down Al Jazeera would be “concerning”.
“The United States supports the critically important work journalists around the world and that includes those who are reporting in the conflict in Gaza,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.
The law was passed as Netanyahu faces massive demonstrations against his handling of the war on Gaza and the security failures which did not detect the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. At least 1,139 people were killed in those attacks and about 250 captives were taken to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 32,916 people, mostly children and women, according to health officials in the besieged territory.
Revenues from Qatar’s LNG fields will provide budget surpluses until the 2030s, Fitch said.
Fitch Ratings has upgraded Qatar to AA, its third-highest rating, on the back of revenues expected from its expanded gas fields, the agency has said.
Revenues from Qatar’s liquified natural gas (LNG) fields will ensure that the country posts budget surpluses until the 2030s, Fitch said in a release on Wednesday outlining the rating rationale.
The upgrade from AA- “reflects Fitch’s greater confidence that debt to GDP will remain in line with or below the ‘AA’ peer median after falling sharply in recent years,” the agency said.
Fitch expects Qatar’s debt-to-GDP ratio to fall to about 47 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 and 45 percent in 2025, from a peak of 85 percent in 2020.
Qatar is already one of the richest countries in the world and boasts one of the highest ratios of GDP per capita. The added revenue boost will ensure that its external balance sheet will strengthen from an already strong level, Fitch said.
However, Fitch warned that the continuing war in Gaza posed a risk to Qatar’s rating even though it had so far not been directly affected. Should a sharp escalation in regional tensions lead to capital flight from banks, for instance, or cause prolonged disruptions of Qatar’s hydrocarbon and transport sectors, that would affect the latest rating, Fitch said.
Qatar is one of the biggest exporters of LNG along with the United States, Australia and Russia. Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea have been the main market for Qatari gas, but demand has also grown from European countries since Russia’s war on Ukraine threw supplies into doubt.
Qatar Energy plans to expand LNG production capacity at North Field from 77 million tonnes per year (mtpa) to 110 mtpa by end-2025, 126 mtpa by end-2027 and announced a further expansion to 142 mtpa by end-2030.
The North Field is part of the world’s largest gas field, which Qatar shares with Iran, which calls its share South Pars.
Competition for LNG has ramped up since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Europe, in particular, requiring a large quantity to help replace Russian pipeline gas that used to make up almost 40 percent of the continent’s imports.
However, after a decade of meteoric price rise, gas prices dropped earlier this year to nearly all-time lows after adjusting for inflation. Despite that drop, all leading gas producers, including the US, Australia and Russia, want to increase output betting on further demand growth.
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