Qatar Must Not Be Allowed to Play Any Role in Gaza

Khaled Abu Toameh

• Allowing Qatar to be part of an Arab consortium that would replace Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip is essentially placing the alpha-fox in charge of the henhouse.
• Al-Jazeera, Qatar’s flagship media network, operates around the clock as a propaganda outlet in the service of Hamas.
• After America’s attack on Iran’s nuclear sites on June 22, journalists and those who shape public opinion in Qatar condemned the US and President Donald J. Trump. Al-Jazeera presenters and columnists for Qatar’s government newspapers took to social media to slam the US and Trump, calling him a “brazen liar”, “the leader of a modern crusade”, and a “war criminal”…
• “… Israel must be destroyed and eliminated and must disappear. This should be a strategic Arab doctrine. [Operation] Al-Aqsa Flood showed us that the Israelis have no connection to the land….” — Qatari General (ret.) Mubarak Al-Khayreen, X.com, June 22, 2025.
• In 2017, [Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates] severed ties with Qatar and imposed a sea, land and air blockade on it. They accused Qatar of supporting various terrorist groups and extremist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and demanded the closure of Al-Jazeera.
• Qatar has never abandoned its goal of promoting the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates, including Hamas. Anyone who watches Al-Jazeera (in Arabic) can see that the Gulf state and its media outlets are fully mobilized in favor of Islamist Jihadis engaged in terrorism against Israel and the West.
• Qatar cannot be allowed to play any role in the administration of the Gaza Strip.

Allowing Qatar to be part of an Arab consortium that would replace Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip is essentially placing the alpha-fox in charge of the henhouse. Pictured: Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal meets with Qatar’s then Crown Prince (today’s Emir) Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan on January 29, 2012. (Photo by Khalil Mazraawi/AFP via Getty Images)

According to a recent report, the Trump administration is floating the idea of having four Arab states administer the Gaza Strip as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas. On June 26, the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported:

“Gaza hostilities will conclude within two weeks, ending conditions will encompass four Arab nations (including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates) to administer the Gaza Strip, replacing the murderous Hamas terrorist organization.”

Although the newspaper did not name the two other Arab countries that would take part in administering the Gaza Strip, there is speculation in the Arab world that one of them is Qatar, which has expressed readiness to help rebuild Gaza after the Hamas-Israel war ends.

The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas terrorists and “ordinary” Palestinians launched a surprise attack on Israel, murdering more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and wounding thousands. On the same day, another 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where 50 (dead and alive) are still held hostage.

Allowing Qatar to be part of an Arab consortium that would replace Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip is essentially placing the alpha-fox in charge of the henhouse.

Qatar’s longtime financial and political support for Hamas is one of the reasons the terror group managed to stay in power and carry out countless terrorist attacks against Israel over the past two decades.

Qatar’s support continued after the October 7 atrocities, as noted by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI):

“Since Hamas’s deadly attack on October 7, 2023, and throughout the war that broke out in its aftermath, the state of Qatar, its media, and institutions affiliated with it have consistently expressed unreserved support for Hamas and for terror and armed violence against Israel. This support finds expression on all levels, in statements by officials and religious clerics, in the media and in the education system. Despite its ostensible role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel, Qatar, which has for years sheltered Hamas leaders within its borders and funded this organization with billions of dollars, has taken a blatantly pro-Hamas and anti-Israel line. Qatari Shura Council member Essa Al-Nassr said that October 7 was the beginning of the end of the Zionist state, presenting this as a divine promise mentioned in the Quran. He added that there can be no peace with the Jews, because their faith condones ‘depletion, the violation of agreements and lies’ and they are ‘slayers of the prophets.'”

Qatar’s foreign ministry released a statement on October 7, 2023, holding “Israel alone responsible” for Hamas’s massacres. The ministry ignored Hamas’s war crimes and accused Israel of violating international law.

The MEMRI report pointed out that Al-Jazeera, Qatar’s flagship media network, operates around the clock as a propaganda outlet in the service of Hamas:

“It [Al-Jazeera] expresses unreserved support for Hamas, justifying its October 7 attack, showing footage it obtained from the [Hamas] terrorists’ body cams, and celebrating it as a victory that has brought pride and honor to the Islamic nation. The network has provided an unlimited platform for messages and threats by Hamas’s leaders and spokespersons, and for their calls on Muslims worldwide to join the jihad (holy war) against Israel. In fact, Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, described Al-Jazeera as “the best pulpit that accurately gives voice to our positions.”

On June 8, the Qatari state-owned newspaper Al-Raya published an article by senior writer Babiker Issa, who praised Hamas commander Mohammed Sinwar, one of the planners of the October 7 atrocities. Under the headline “Sinwar Icon of the Palestinian Resistance,” Issa called Mohammed Sinwar “a daring fighter” and “an honorable and great warrior.” He went on to describe him as “icon of the national struggle on the land of Palestine and in Gaza,” and as “the planer and the mastermind -with his comrades the fighters -of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7, 2023… which restored to the Palestinian issue its brilliance and its glory.”

Qatar claims that the money it delivered to Hamas in the Gaza Strip over many years was humanitarian aid, and intended for the civilian population, but evidence suggests that much of the funding has directly benefited Hamas’s political and military structures, already on record as stealing aid (for instance here, here, here, here, here, here and here). For the past two decades, Qatar has transferred more than $1.8 billion to Hamas, making it a primary financial lifeline for the terror group.

Between 2018 and 2023 alone, Qatar delivered funds, in cash, to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, amounting to $30 million each month. Didier Billion, deputy director of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, said that Qatar’s financial support of $30 million per month is “proven and public.”

“These payments are [purported] to pay civil servants in Gaza, and we know perfectly well that these are members of Hamas. Doha’s money is therefore the equivalent of direct support for this organisation which has held the Palestinian enclave with an iron fist for many years.”

Documents recently found by the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip indicate that Hamas leaders describe Qatar as the group’s “main artery,” and Qatari money as crucial for Hamas’s operations, including its military wing.

The Qatari funds were “the main lifeline of the [Hamas] movement,” Hamas’s then politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh told then-Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani (today prime minister) in a face-to-face meeting in 2019, according to the documents.

Haniyeh, according to the documents, revealed in 2021 that the emir of Qatar had agreed to covertly fund Hamas’s armed “resistance” efforts. “So far, $11 million has been raised by the emir for the [Hamas] leadership.” Haniyeh wrote in a letter to Yahya Sinwar.

“In a private meeting between us, we reassured [the emir] regarding the resistance. We agreed on discreet financial support [from Qatar to Hamas]. I would ask that you write a letter focusing on the military campaign [against Israel] and your urgent needs.”

Reports suggest that Qatari intelligence officials discussed with Hamas representatives the possibility of establishing training camps for Hamas fighters in Qatar and Turkey. Qatar, in addition, supported the integration of Palestinian refugees from Syria into Hamas battalions in Lebanon.

After America’s attack on Iran’s nuclear sites on June 22, journalists and those who shape public opinion in Qatar condemned the US and President Donald J. Trump. Al-Jazeera presenters and columnists for Qatar’s government newspapers took to social media to slam the US and Trump, calling him a “brazen liar”, “the leader of a modern crusade”, and a “war criminal” who has “revealed his ugly face” and is “looking for false personal glory.” They also described the Americans as “infidels” and “plotters” seeking to “ignite wars and destroy peoples.”

Retired Qatari general Mubarak Al-Khayreen wrote on his X account:

“There is [some] benefit in the US being strong alongside Russia and China, in order to maintain the global balance [of power], but Israel must be destroyed and eliminated and must disappear. This should be a strategic Arab doctrine. [Operation] Al-Aqsa Flood showed us that the Israelis have no connection to the land and that they admit they are occupying the land of others and that they are transient.”

Qatar’s support for Hamas aligns with its broader foreign policy of leveraging the Muslim Brotherhood organization to enhance its regional influence. Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood dates back to the 1950s and ’60s, when the Gulf state offered refuge to members of the organization fleeing political repression in other Arab countries. In recent years, Qatar has hosted Hamas’s political leaders, including Khaled Mashaal, Ismail Haniyeh, Musa Abu Marzouk, and Khalil al-Hayya.

Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood has often created tensions with other Arab countries. The Muslim Brotherhood has been designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In 2017, the four Arab states severed ties with Qatar and imposed a sea, land and air blockade on it. They accused Qatar of supporting various terrorist groups and extremist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and demanded the closure of Al-Jazeera.

The crisis ended in 2021 after mediation by Kuwait and Oman, and pressure from the United States.

Qatar has never abandoned its goal of promoting the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates, including Hamas. Anyone who watches Al-Jazeera (in Arabic) can see that the Gulf state and its media outlets are fully mobilized in favor of Islamist Jihadis engaged in terrorism against Israel and the West. Qatar will doubtless once again use humanitarian aid as a tool to ensure Hamas’s continued rule over the Gaza Strip. This patronage will pave the way for more October 7-style massacres.

Qatar cannot be allowed to play any role in the administration of the Gaza Strip.

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.