https://www.scmp.com/rss/523474/feed The latest news and top stories on Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Known for his pivotal role in Qatar’s foreign policy and administrative leadership, he has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2016 and became Prime Minister in March 2023. He holds a background in economics and business administration, contributing to economic diversification and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. His work involves advising the Amir, leading the Council of Ministers and enhancing... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Tom Hussain Tom Hussain As Islamabad prepares to host a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran, Pakistani mediators are seeking ways to extricate the Gulf monarchies from the conflict, according to a well-placed diplomatic source. While the success of those efforts depends largely on the outcome of talks that US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday could resume by the end of the week, Pakistan’s mediation has produced a second confidence-building phone call in a week between the Iranian and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3350175/pakistan-seeks-shield-gulf-states-us-iran-talks-set-resume?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3350175/pakistan-seeks-shield-gulf-states-us-iran-talks-set-resume?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:00:04 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain US President Donald Trump declared the war in Gaza “over” at his inaugural “Board of Peace” meeting on Thursday, even as regional analysts warned that Israeli military operations could resume within weeks. At the gathering in Washington, attended by senior officials from more than 20 countries, promises of reconstruction and a “bright future” for Gaza were coupled with blunt US warnings that the alternative to disarmament would be a return to war. Outside the meeting, Israeli officials... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344087/trump-says-gaza-war-over-analysts-warn-fighting-could-resume-within-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344087/trump-says-gaza-war-over-analysts-warn-fighting-could-resume-within-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 05:33:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The nearly two-month-old ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will not be complete until Israeli troops withdraw from the Palestinian territory under a peace plan backed by Washington and the United Nations, mediator Qatar’s prime minister has said. “Now we are at the critical moment ... A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, [and] there is stability back in Gaza,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday. Sheikh... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335463/gaza-truce-incomplete-without-full-withdrawal-israel-qatar-pm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335463/gaza-truce-incomplete-without-full-withdrawal-israel-qatar-pm?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2025 12:40:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israel and Hamas said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end a war in Gaza that has killed more than 67,000 people and reshaped the Middle East. Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas militants’ cross-border attack that triggered Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework to bring peace to the Palestinian... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328289/trump-says-he-may-go-middle-east-gaza-deal-very-close?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328289/trump-says-he-may-go-middle-east-gaza-deal-very-close?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Oct 2025 20:34:00 +0000 Agence France-Presse,Reuters Agence France-Presse,Reuters Hamas said on Wednesday that “optimism” was prevailing in indirect talks with Israel aimed at ending the Gaza war, with the militant group submitting a list of prisoners it wants to be released in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages under a deal. The talks aim to thrash out a plan to implement a 20-point peace proposal put forward last month by US President Donald Trump, to which both Israel and Hamas have responded positively. The plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328270/hamas-submits-prisoner-list-israel-amid-optimism-gaza-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328270/hamas-submits-prisoner-list-israel-amid-optimism-gaza-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:11:23 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump voiced optimism that there was a “real chance” to end the war in Gaza, as Israel remembered victims of the October 7 attacks two years ago on Tuesday. In his message marking the anniversary, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to achieve all the goals of the war, including crushing the Palestinian militant group Hamas which waged the attacks. “We are in fateful, decisive days. We will continue to act to achieve all the war’s objectives: the return of all... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328165/trump-says-real-chance-end-gaza-war-hamas-seeks-us-guarantees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328165/trump-says-real-chance-end-gaza-war-hamas-seeks-us-guarantees?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 20:09:38 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israel’s defence minister issued a final warning for Gaza City residents to flee south on Wednesday, as Hamas weighed US President Donald Trump’s plan to end nearly two years of war in the Palestinian territory. Witnesses reported heavy bombardment in Gaza’s largest urban centre, as Israel Katz warned the military was tightening its encirclement of the city. “This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas operatives isolated in Gaza City,” Katz... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3327536/hamas-seeks-changes-trumps-gaza-plan-including-disarmament-clause-source?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3327536/hamas-seeks-changes-trumps-gaza-plan-including-disarmament-clause-source?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 11:51:38 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain A proposal by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza is already under fire, just days after its release, over last-minute changes pushed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that critics say could undermine Arab-Islamic support and derail the path to peace. Analysts say the “principles for peace” deal, unveiled on Monday, risks alienating the very Arab and Muslim nations the pact depends on – by allowing Israeli forces to occupy most of Gaza indefinitely unless Palestinian... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3327517/will-trumps-gaza-peace-plan-work-netanyahus-changes-spark-arab-islamic-unease?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3327517/will-trumps-gaza-peace-plan-work-netanyahus-changes-spark-arab-islamic-unease?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:30:37 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain When Israeli jets tore through Doha’s skies last week, striking a residential block that housed Hamas negotiators, they may also have set in motion something Israel has long feared: the birth of an Arab military alliance. The proposal, under discussion at an emergency Arab-Islamic summit that opened in Doha on Sunday, marks the most serious push towards regional military integration in decades. Diplomatic sources and Arab media reported that the summit was poised to endorse the creation of a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3325543/arab-nato-israels-qatar-strikes-give-arab-militaries-reason-unite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3325543/arab-nato-israels-qatar-strikes-give-arab-militaries-reason-unite?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Sep 2025 04:10:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that a visit to Israel by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio underscored the strength of ties between the allies, days after an unprecedented Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar drew broad criticism. The attack on the US ally and key mediator in Gaza truce talks has prompted Arab and Muslim leaders to gather for a show of solidarity in Doha, where Qatar’s prime minister urged the world to reject “double standards” and hold Israel to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3325513/netanyahu-says-us-alliance-has-never-been-stronger-marco-rubio-visits-israel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3325513/netanyahu-says-us-alliance-has-never-been-stronger-marco-rubio-visits-israel?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Sep 2025 16:54:49 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump had dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha. Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge. Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325420/qatar-pm-has-great-dinner-trump-after-israeli-strikes-hamas-doha?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325420/qatar-pm-has-great-dinner-trump-after-israeli-strikes-hamas-doha?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Sep 2025 03:45:26 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza, a senior member from the group said on Monday, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war. Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But after receiving a new proposal from mediators, Hamas said it was ready for talks. “The movement has submitted its response, agreeing to the mediators’ new... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3322288/hamas-accepts-new-gaza-truce-plan-mediators-egypt-and-qatar-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3322288/hamas-accepts-new-gaza-truce-plan-mediators-egypt-and-qatar-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Aug 2025 19:26:59 +0000