Qatar, 'Leading Sponsor of Terrorism in the World, More than Iran,' Is Not an Impartial Mediator
by Bassam Tawil • April 24, 2024 at 5:00 am
The idea that Qatar has been acting as a mediator in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas is nothing short of laughable. Qatar has actually long been staunchly aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood organization, of which Hamas is an offshoot.
The Muslim Brotherhood -- according to a hearing at the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security on July 11, 2018 -- is a militant Islamist organization with affiliates in over 70 countries, including groups designated as terrorist organizations by the US.
""Qatar has huge influence over the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian affiliate, Hamas.... For too long, Doha has danced between its Islamist allies and its Western and Arab partners." — Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, The Atlantic, October 20, 2023
Qatar has a long history of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and its radical terrorist offshoots.... Qatar has also provided political and financial support to Hamas. In 2008, Doha reportedly pledged $250 million to Hamas, one year after the terror group violently seized control of the Gaza Strip. In 2012, Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani became the first head of state to visit Gaza, pledging $400 million to Hamas. Since then, the Qatari government has continued to send money to Hamas.
Qatar's goal is to keep Hamas in power. Qatar has no reason to care if thousands of Palestinians die in the Gaza Strip, so long as Hamas is permitted to continue ruling the coastal enclave.
Recently, the rulers of Qatar demonstrated that they not only serve as gracious hosts to the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas terror group, but that they also have a sense of humor.
The Gulf state's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani announced during a press conference in Doha that his country is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas after facing criticism.
"Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role," al-Thani said. "There is exploitation and abuse of the Qatari role," he said, adding that Qatar had been the victim of "point-scoring" by "politicians who are trying to conduct election campaigns by slighting the State of Qatar."
Earlier, al-Thani said negotiations to secure the release of more than 130 remaining Israeli hostages, abducted by Hamas to the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, had stalled.
