Qatar Financial News

Israel's military increased airstrikes on Hamas targets in southern Gaza, a widening front in the war, as each side ruled out further talks toward a renewed cease-fire. Israel pulled its negotiating team from Qatar, denting hopes that a seven-day cease-fire, accompanied by exchanges of hostages and prisoners, would be extended.

Safeena Hussain, founder of 'Educate Girls,' has become the first Indian woman to bag the WISE Prize worth 5 lakh USD for mobilising 14 lakh out of school girls in Indian villages to get back to mainstream education. The prize, awarded by the Qatar Foundation at the 11th Edition of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Summit earlier this week in Doha, is one of the most prestigious awards in education.

Mossad agents negotiating the potential renewal of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas left Qatar on Saturday due to an impasse in the talks. «Due to the impasse in negotiations and following instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad chief David Barnea ordered his team in Doha to return to Israel,» the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on Saturday night. «The Hamas terror group did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement, including releasing all the women and children in accordance with a list provided to Hamas and approved by it,» the statement added. "[Barnea] thanks the head of the CIA, Egypt's intelligence minister and the prime minister of Qatar for their partnership in the tremendous mediation efforts that led to the release of 84 women and children from Gaza, in addition to 24 foreign nationals," it noted. The IDF resumed combat operations in Gaza on Friday morning after Hamas broke a week-long ceasefire by firing rockets at the Jewish state. Barnea has repeatedly flown to Doha to hold discussions aimed at securing the release of additional hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Amid renewed fighting, Israel's government said it remains committed to seeing that all the hostages return home. According to the latest numbers, 137 remain in captivity. Of those, 20 are women and 117 are men.

Israeli military stated that it conducted air force and artillery operations targeting Hezbollah locations in Lebanon. This action was taken in response to rockets being launched at several Israeli outposts in close proximity to the border. As the crisis threatens to spill out of control, world leaders have started deliberating on a new peace deal.

Narendra Modi met Qatar's Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai on Friday, as they discussed bilateral partnership and the well-being of the Indian community in the oil-rich country. The meeting is significant as eight former Indian Navy personnel were on October 26 given death sentences by a court in Qatar and the Indian government has reportedly filed an appeal against the sentence.

Israel-Hamas war: Even as the world leaders attempt to bring Israel and Hamas back on the negotiating table, Israel is displaying its resolve to eliminate Hamas from the map of the Earth. As per a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, Israel’s intelligence agencies, which are known for their undercover operations, plans to kill Hamas leader across the globe after the war in Gaza ends The report said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given clear orders to Israel’s top spy agencies that Hamas leaders living in countries like Lebanon, Turkey, Qatar, etc.

navy remains on an aspirational and dynamic trajectory into the future," Admiral Kumar was quoted by PTI as saying. He said the overall strength of women Agniveers has now crossed the 1,000-mark, adding that the Indian Navy's first batch of Agniveers graduated from the premier-winning establishment, INS Chilka, in March this year.

Palestine's Gaza resumed after a brief pause for hostage and prisoner exchange between both countries, allowing safe entry of aids into Gaza. The truce mediated by Qatar, and US , did provide a breather for the residents of Northern Gaza, which is in tatters owing to relentless bombing from Israel.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's recent visit to Qatar was marked by an unexpected diplomatic incident that garnered significant attention. Upon his arrival, President Steinmeier was left waiting on the tarmac for nearly 30 minutes, a delay that sparked speculation and raised eyebrows. The incident, which unfolded as President Steinmeier stood at the door of his Airbus A350 with folded arms, was captured in a viral video that circulated widely. Despite the presence of the red carpet, a military honor guard, and Germany's ambassador to Qatar, no Qatari official was initially on hand to formally welcome the distinguished visitor. A report by German news broadcaster DW cited the delay as being due to the absence of Qatari officials at the airport to greet President Steinmeier. However, both German and Qatari officials have refrained from commenting on the delay, leaving the exact cause open to interpretation.

Israel and Hamas will continue, both sides said Thursday, moments before the deal was due to expire, though details of any official agreement remained unclear. Minutes before the halt in fighting was due to expire at 0500GMT, Israel's military said the "operational pause" would be extended, without specifying for how long.

Gold prices touched a nearly seven-month high on Wednesday propelled by an extended decline in the U.S. dollar and bond yields as markets grew confident that the Federal Reserve would likely cut rates by the first half of next year. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,047.21 per ounce by 0236 GMT. * U.S.

Israel released more hostages and prisoners under terms of a fragile cease-fire that held for a fifth day Tuesday as international mediators in Qatar worked to extend the truce and the United States urged Israel to better protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza if it follows through on its promise to resume the war. In the latest swap since the cease-fire began Friday, Israel said 10 of its citizens and two Thai nationals were freed by Hamas and had been returned to Israel.

Isaac Herzog and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas will both address the COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai this week, seven weeks into the Israel and Hamas war, officials said on Tuesday. Herzog and Abbas are both scheduled to make speeches lasting three minutes maximum on Friday. Abbas is expected to be in the room when Herzog is speaking, as he is scheduled to address the room only three speakers later. Abbas, head of the Fatah party that leads the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, has only met Israeli officials on rare occasions. More than 140 heads of state and government are due to address COP28 on Thursday and Friday, the start of nearly two weeks of talks to address the climate crisis, according to a UN list made available on Tuesday.

India on Tuesday successfully pulled out all 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in Uttarakhand after 17 days, the global media hailed the rescue operation and provided live coverage of the dramatic development. «Outside the tunnel, there have been celebrations at the news of the first man coming out of the tunnel,» the BBC reported while providing regular updates on the rescue operation.

Israel and Hamas in Gaza appeared set to continue for a fifth day on Tuesday, there are expectations that Hamas will release more hostages seized on October 7 in exchange for increased aid and the release of imprisoned Palestinians by Israel, Reuters reported. As per the report, following the release of 11 Israelis on Monday, Hamas has now freed 69 hostages out of approximately 240 taken during an incursion into southern Israel, resulting in about 1,200 casualties according to Israeli figures. Early on Tuesday, media affiliated with Hamas reported that Israel had released 30 Palestinian children and three women in the fourth exchange of the truce.

Israel’s operations in Gaza, and accelerate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza," the US State department said. It will be his third trip to the region since October 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killed more than 1,200 people, and took 240 hostages.

four-day truce, announced by Israel and Hamas on November 24, was scheduled to expire. As part of the truce agreement, Hamas was to release 50 out of the around 240 hostages which are in its custody since October 7, whereas, the Israeli forces were to free 150 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel and Hamas will be extended by two days, mediator Qatar said on Monday as the initial four-day truce in Gaza was set to expire. «The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip,» said Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X. Over the course of the humanitarian pause and in weeks prior, Qatar, with the support of the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza, which mediators had said was designed to be broadened and expanded. The announcement comes on the final day of a four-day truce between the warring sides, as they were preparing for a fourth exchange of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 more hostages — 14 Israelis and three Thais — in a third exchange under the four-day truce. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. Israel has indicated it will prolong the ceasefire for each release of 10 additional hostages.

commerce ministry is working to address issues related to non-tariff barriers and market access for domestic products in sub-Saharan African countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana and Gulf nations to boost India's exports, an official said. The official said meetings have been held with Indian missions of the sub-Saharan African countries with which India has significant bilateral trade. The major trading partners of India in that region in 2022-23 were South Africa (total trade USD 18.9 billion, exports USD 8.5 billion); Nigeria (USD 11.85 billion, exports USD 5.15 billion); Togo (USD 6.6 billion, exports USD 6 billion), and Tanzania (USD 6.5 billion, exports USD 3.93 billion). The other countries were Mozambique (USD 5 billion, exports USD 2.5 billion); Angola (USD 4.22 billion, exports USD 621 million); and Kenya (USD 3.4 billion, exports USD 3.2 billion). «A virtual meeting with Indian Mission of top 10 countries (bilateral trade-wise) in sub-Saharan African region was held in September to discuss the overall economic and commercial relations with those countries, export performance and non-tariff barriers which are acting as impediments to bilateral trade and enhance exports,» the official said. A similar meeting was also held with Indian Missions in GCC countries. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain.

Scores of hostages have been freed, and the pause in the fighting has also allowed humanitarian relief to reach thousands. This may not be the end of the conflict, which has claimed over 11,000 lives since Hamas’ 7 October terror attack. But how exactly did we get here? The truce was brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.

By Ateeq Shariff