Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Qatar sought only a brief pause to retrieve the civilians. Israeli officials refused to discuss it.
Qatar’s prime minister says the Gaza war could have opened with every civilian hostage free. Instead, he said, Israel rejected a brief window to bring them out.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Piers Morgan Uncensored that Qatar met Hamas leaders on the first day of the war and secured an agreement to release “all the civilian hostages.” Doha asked Israeli officials for a temporary pause so the civilians could be retrieved, he said.
“They said that, look, if they want to release them, let them go without doing anything,” Sheikh Mohammed said of Israel’s response.
The Jerusalem Post separately reported the Qatari leader’s account: Doha approached Israel with a civilian-hostage release proposal and a ceasefire window, and Israeli officials declined to engage.
A recent Haaretz investigation reported that Sheikh Mohammed relayed the proposal to then-Mossad chief David Barnea on the evening of Oct. 7. The newspaper reported Barnea’s answer:
“If they want to release the civilians, let them release them. We are not prepared to speak with Hamas.”— David Barnea, as quoted by Haaretz
The prime minister’s on-record account cuts through years of hostage-war messaging. Qatar says the opening offer covered every civilian captive. Israel, it says, refused even a short pause to get them home.
Watch the full interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored: