US President Joe Biden on Friday spoke with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani about the situation in Gaza and the efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, the White House said.

Qatar has played a key role in attempts to reach a deal between Israel and Hamas that would allow for the release of the 136 hostages who are still held by Hamas in Gaza. It also helped mediate the previous deal, together with Egypt.

Biden and the Emir’s conversation comes two days after Qatar blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments criticizing Qatar’s role in the mediation efforts as “problematic.”

On Thursday, the US State Department defended Qatar as a mediator in negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Asked about Netanyahu’s comments during a press briefing, Deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel responded, “I don’t have any assessment to offer on those comments or some of the audio that’s been circulating. What I can just say – and I spoke a little bit about this yesterday – is that Qatar has been an integral, irreplaceable, key regional partner, not just as it relates to this current ongoing conflict, but other priorities that the United States has had in the region, and we’ll look forward to continuing to deepen our partnership with them and work with them on a number of key issues.”

Qatar and the US have cooperated on other issues, and most recently the two countries reached an agreement that extends the US military presence at a sprawling base in Qatar for another 10 years.

The Al Udeid Air Base, located in the desert southwest of Doha, is the biggest US military installation in the Middle East and can house more than 10,000 American troops.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)