A senior official in the government of Qatar told reporters Wednesday that the country is reconsidering acting as a mediator for talks between its neighbor Israel and Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization whose leaders live lavishly in the Qatari capital of Doha.
Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani reportedly said that Doha is mulling an exit from the talks, meant to find an agreement to free an estimated 133 hostages still in Hamas custody in exchange for Israel stopping its self-defense operations in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza, due to “abuse” from unnamed politicians.
Hamas took an estimated 250 hostages during its unprecedented, savage siege of Israel on October 7, in which Hamas terrorists also killed about 1,200 people and engaging in gruesome acts of infanticide, abuse of corpses, rape, and more. Much of the Middle East rallied around Hamas following the attack, claiming it was just retribution for Israel’s “occupation” of its sovereign territory.
Among the most belligerent parties was state sponsor of terrorism Iran, one of Hamas’s top sources of revenue, which launched an unprecedented, but failed, missile and drone assault against Israel this weekend. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made one of his first phone calls following the attack to the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Prime Minister al-Thani told reporters in Doha that the Qataris felt disrespected in the talks between Hamas and Israel.
“Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role,” the prime minister reportedly said.
“There is exploitation and abuse of the Qatari role,” he continued, according to the Times of Israel, and accused unnamed “politicians” of “trying to conduct election campaigns by slighting the State of Qatar.”
The Saudi outlet al-Arabiya quoted al-Thani as saying that Qatari was disappointed by the “misuse of this mediation for narrow political interests, and this necessitated Qatar to undertake a full evaluation of this role.”
The Qatari government often identifies any criticism of its policies as victimizing and abuse. During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which Qatar hosted despite international condemnation by human rights experts, Emir al-Thani claimed his country was facing an “unprecedented campaign” of criticism in bad faith, built on “fabrications and double standards.” In reality, condemnation of Qatar was based on years of evidence that it had used slave workers to build World Cup facilities, its long history of human rights abuses against suspected gay people, and its complete lack of free speech or other basic civil liberties.
Prime Minister al-Thani had lamented on Wednesday before the announcement that Doha was reconsidering participating in the talks that negotiations between Israel and Hamas were “stalling.”
“Unfortunately, the negotiations are between moving forward and stalling, and at this stage we are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling,” he explained. “We are trying as much as possible to address this stalling, move forward and put an end to the suffering that the people in Gaza are experiencing and returning the hostages at the same time.”
Qatar has carved out a unique position in geopolitics as a mediator, maintaining relations with international jihadist terrorists and with the free world simultaneously. Leftist President Joe Biden designated Qatar a “major non-NATO ally” in 2022 in recognition of it hosting American troops and maintaining diplomatic ties. Qatar has also allowed Hamas leaders to live in luxury in Doha since at least 2012, however, and hosted the Taliban terrorist organization similarly through 2021, when Biden’s decision to extend the 20-year war in Afghanistan resulted in the Taliban seizing the entire country.
In early April, three Republican lawmakers – Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) – introduced a bill to force the State Department to remove Qatar from America’s list of “major non-NATO” allies, citing Qatar’s friendly relationship with Hamas.
“For more than six months, Hamas has held five U.S. citizens hostage in Gaza, as well as the bodies of three citizens believed to have been killed on or shortly after October 7th,” Sen. Budd said in a statement introducing the bill. “Qatar has shifted from claiming it is exercising all leverage on Hamas to publicly stating that it has no leverage and promoting a ceasefire regardless of the release of hostages.”
“Major Non-NATO Ally status is a privilege and countries like Qatar must continuously earn,” he concluded. “Failure to take action against Hamas is beginning to look like tacit support for a foreign terrorist organization designated by the United States.”
The Qatari government responded to the bill by declaring it “reckless,” arguing that Qatar has a “record of successful collaboration” with America.
“Among other things, Qatar has quietly and successfully mediated the release of Americans held in Afghanistan, Iran and Venezuela,” the Qatari embassy in Washington claimed.
This week, Democrat Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) reiterated growing calls for the United States to “reconsider” ties to Doha in response to Hamas refusing to accept an Israeli offer for a deal to free hostages.
“Hamas has … sought to use its intermediary Qatar – which has long helped finance, back, and house the terrorist organization – to exact greater concessions from Israel,” Hoyer said. “Instead, Qatar needs to make it clear to Hamas that there will be repercussions if it continues to block progress toward releasing the hostages and establishing a temporary ceasefire. Consequences ought to include cutting off funding to Hamas or refusing to grant Hamas’ leaders refuge in Doha.”
“If Qatar fails to apply this pressure, the United States must reevaluate its relationship with Qatar,” the congressman suggested.
