Qatar - HAMAS Relations
As ceasefire talks over Gaza stalled in November 2024, the Biden administration asked the Qatari government to expel Hamas' overseas leadership from the country, and the Qatari government has accepted the request. As part of the ceasefire talks, the Biden administration is seeking the release of hostages held by Hamas , but according to Reuters, Hamas rejected the proposal several weeks ago , and the US told the Qatari government that "there is no place for Hamas leaders in the capital of a country that is a partner of the US," so Qatar asked Hamas to move them out of the country about 10 days ago . Hamas officials are said to have denied this information. The US and Qatar, along with Egypt, are mediating the Gaza ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas , and while the Biden administration prioritizes the release of hostages, including Americans, it is believed that Hamas does not want to lose an important negotiating card. In 2012, Hamas moved its overseas leadership from the Syrian capital of Damascus to Doha, the capital of Qatar, due to the Syrian civil war. Qatar has been funding Hamas while exerting influence over its activities.
Qatar has been described as 300 families and a TV station, and a ton of petro dollars. States do not have friends - states have interests. Qatar plays a double game: it maintains both relations with terrorist groups and certain Western nations which are indebted to it. Boasting good relations with both Western governments and Hamas, the emirate of Qatar emerged as the key power in efforts to release the hostages seized by the Palestinian fighters from Israel on 07 October 2023 even as other states show readiness to help. Qatar, which has hosted Hamas' political office for more than 10 years, is also respected by the United States, Israel's chief ally. It is home to the largest US military base in the region.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday lauded the key role played by Qatar in the release by Hamas of two American hostages held since its operation against Israel on October 7, adding he was confident of further releases. The West was increasingly using the influence of the small but gas-rich Gulf Arab state, a key global investor, in such situations.
The role of Qatar was crucial to the release in September 2023 of five Americans held by Iran. It was with Qatar that $6 billion of frozen Iranian funds from South Korean banks was parked pending the release in a hugely complex and sensitive swap deal of the five American citizens held by Iran. "The most accommodating mediator is Qatar," said Hasni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Center for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World (CERMAM). "It knows Hamas well and is its loyal financial backer," he said, in referring to Doha's financing of the salaries of civil servants in Gaza.
Two American citizens held hostage by Hamas were released 21 October 2023. The freed hostages, Judith and Nathalie Raanan, were captured by militants on October 7 at Kibbutz Nahal Oz on the border with the Gaza Strip. According to Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaidah, the release of the hostages was a response to Qatari mediation efforts . In turn, a representative of the Qatari Foreign Ministry said that the release of the hostages was successful “after many days of continuous communication” and the dialogue on the release of the hostages will continue.
Qatar often takes the role of trying to be close with every side of every conflict in the Middle East. When Hamas lost funding in and support from Syria and Iran, it turned to the other Sunni regional powers, principally Qatar and Turkey. While it is difficult to say precisely how much financial support Qatar provides to Hamas, in 2012, the Emir pledged more than $400 million.
Qatar has been known to harbor Hamas leadership and provide the terrorist group with funds. Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, lives comfortably in Qatar while the Palestinians go hungry. He lives along with a number of other senior commanders. Residents of Doha catch sight of Meshaal the way New Yorkers talk of seeing Woody Allen.
Qatar's support for Hamas is consistent with its populist approach to the region, which is part of Doha's broader effort to establish and reinforce its policy independence from larger and more powerful actors, especially Saudi Arabia. Qatar has been known to be perhaps the largest financial patron of Hamas. Not only does Qatar harbor Hamas figurehead Khaled Meshaal, Qatar reportedly threatened to exile him if Hamas accepted an Egyptian-backed cease fire agreement in August 2014. In 2011, the Emir of Qatar was the first head of state to visit Gaza and pledged over $400 million of infrastructure money to Hamas. Qatar funds Hamas' strikes in Gaza, as well as its project, building terror tunnels from which to attack Israel rather than building up Gaza for the Palestinian people.
The Obama administration took a step to block a transfer of funds from Qatar to Hamas terrorists, and in 2016 the Treasury Department openly admitted that Qatar for many years had openly financed Hamas. It is also supported extremist groups operating in Syria and has become such a permissive terrorist financing environment for all of these groups, and that includes its funding of the Muslim Brotherhood, and, along with Kuwait, had become a major source of funding for ISIL, a threat that must be eliminated.
According to reports, Egypt charged former leader Mohamed Morsi with giving national security documents to Qatar, and Qatari connections to the Brotherhood are deep and troubling.
MEMRI President Yigal Carmon said in an October 14, 2023 show on Israel's official Arab-language broadcaster Makan TV that Gaza is a "death trap," and it is not worth sending Israeli ground forces, it is better to finish the mission gradually, without haste. He continued to say that Israel should offer families, women, and children in Gaza a humanitarian corridor to evacuate, but Hamas objects to this because it wants to use them as human shields. Carmon stated that Israel should release all the Palestinian prisoners it has in exchange for the hostages held in Gaza. When the interviewer asked if this would not be considered a defeat, Carmon replied that Israel has already been defeated and all it has left is to save the people held in Gaza.
Carmon said that "Qatar is Hamas and Hamas is Qatar. Qatar has declared war against Israel by means of Hamas, and it will pay a steep price for that. At the moment, the Americans and the Israelis talk [to the Qataris], because everybody wants to get some help from them, but when it is over and it becomes clear that there is nothing left to take from Qatar... The truth about Qatar has been exposed. It is a terror state. Aal Thani is a thieving family, a family of terror. Everybody knows that. The mastermind of 9/11 hid in Doha, Qatar.... The declaration of war was on Al-Jazeera TV, by Mohammed Deif, on Saturday morning. And since then, they aired all the statements by Abu Ubaida. They will all pay the price."
Yigal Carmon: "I oppose this because Gaza is a death trap. Saleh Al-Arouri said: 'We have prepared ourselves for this, and we invite them to come.' With whose money did they build this underground Gaza? With Qatari money. Tunnels, weapons, military bases... They are ready.
Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on 13 October 2023 was asked whether Qatar was considering shutting down the Hamas bureau. Al Thani responded "regarding your question about Hamas political office in Doha, right now actually this office – actually since – this was started to be used as a way of communicating and bringing peace and calm into the region, not to instigate any war. And this is the purpose of that office. As long as we are keeping the communication open right now and focusing on putting an end for this conflict, and this is used to."
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