Qatar has decided to suspend its main mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, officials said Saturday, after growing frustration over the lack of progress on a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

It was not immediately clear whether the remaining Hamas leaders hosted by Qatar would have to leave.

However, it is highly likely that Qatar will resume its efforts if both sides demonstrate “serious political will” to reach a deal, according to one official with Egypt, the other key mediator.

Qatar told Israel and Hamas that it could not continue mediation “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate an agreement in good faith” and that “therefore, the Hamas politburo was no longer fulfilling its objective” in Qatar, a diplomat said. A source briefed on the matter said Qatar told Hamas it would have to leave if it was not ready to engage in serious negotiations, the source said.

In Washington, a U.S. official said the Biden administration informed Qatar two weeks ago that maintaining the Hamas office in Doha was no longer useful and that the Hamas delegation should be expelled.

A senior US official said that after Hamas rejected the latest ceasefire proposal, Qatar accepted the advice and informed the Hamas delegation of the decision 10 days ago.

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A senior Hamas official said he was aware of Qatar’s decision to suspend its mediation efforts, “but no one told us to leave.” Hamas has repeatedly called for an end to the war and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as a condition of any ceasefire agreement. Israel demands the return of all hostages and insists on its presence in Gaza.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Israeli prime minister’s office had no comment.

There is still no end in sight to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the Israeli military said it struck command centers and other areas overnight. militant infrastructure in the southern suburbs of Beirut. An Israeli airstrike on the southern port city of Tire killed at least seven people Friday evening, officials and a resident said.

Hezbollah “should continue (the fight) and we will continue to support it even if we lose our families, our homes and end up in the mud,” Beirut resident Mohammed Mekdad said as people searched through the smoldering rubble.

In Gaza, three separate Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people, including women and children, on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, while Israel announced the first delivery of humanitarian aid in weeks to the starving north and devastated territory.

One of the strikes hit a school-turned-shelter in the Tufah neighborhood east of Gaza City, killing at least six people, the territory’s health ministry said. Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead, according to the press release. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, without providing evidence or details.

Seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern town of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering, according to Nasser Hospital. According to the press release, the dead included two women and a child. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

And Palestinian medical officials said an Israeli strike hit tents in the courtyard of the main hospital in central Gaza, including one serving as a police station. At least three people were killed and a local journalist was injured, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah said. It was the eighth Israeli attack on the compound since March.

Israel says aid trucks arriving in northern Gaza

The Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, said on Saturday that 11 humanitarian trucks containing food, water and medical equipment had reached the far north of the enclave on Thursday. It is the first time aid has reached the far north since Israel launched a new military campaign there last month.

But not all the aid reached the agreed drop-off points, according to the United Nations World Food Program, which was involved in the delivery process. In the Jabaliya urban refugee camp, Israeli troops stopped a convoy bound for nearby Beit Lahiya and ordered supplies to be unloaded, WFP spokeswoman Alia Zaki said.

The Israeli offensive has focused on Jabaliya, where Israel says Hamas has regrouped. Other affected areas include Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, just north of Gaza City.

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US deadline approaches for Israel

The aid announcement came days before a U.S. deadline requiring Israel to improve aid deliveries to Gaza or risk losing access to U.S. weapons funding.

The United States says Israel must allow at least 350 trucks a day carrying food and other supplies.

Meanwhile, an Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) report, released on Thursday, indicates that there is a high probability that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza, the most isolated area of ​​the territory.

COGAT rejected the IPC’s findings and said the report relied “on partial and biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”

No emergency services operating north of Gaza City

The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people remain in northern Gaza. Earlier this week, the Health Ministry said no ambulances or emergency teams were operating north of Gaza City.

The conflict has resulted in the displacement of 90% of Palestinians in Gaza, according to UN figures. The Israeli army struck several schools and tent camps filled with tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders.

The military has accused Hamas of operating from Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including schools, United Nations facilities and hospitals.

More than a year of war in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say that more than half of those killed were women and children.

The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapping 250 others.