(JCSFA) Tuesday’s Israeli strike on a Hamas leadership gathering in Qatar’s capital, Doha, has drawn international attention to the close ties between the Gulf state and Hamas, and the threat Qatar poses to American interests in the Middle East.
Qatar presents itself as a US ally in the fight against terrorism, distancing itself from Hamas by claiming it hosts the group’s office at the US’s request to maintain open communication for promoting peace in the region.
Qatar’s policy toward the US is based on strategic deception. The country does not classify Hamas as a terrorist organization, and its relationship with Hamas goes beyond simple communication.
Qatar has demonstrated full political support for Hamas, providing substantial aid to the Gaza Strip—nearly $2 billion, some of which was in cash. This aid was administered by Hamas and contributed to strengthening its military wing in preparation for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Hamas leadership viewed Qatar as a close and preferred ally over Egypt, thanks to Qatar’s mobilization of its institutions to advance Palestinian goals.
Qatar’s financial support continued even as Hamas leadership publicly reiterated its coordination with the Shi’ite axis-Iran and its proxies in the Middle East for the “Promise of the Hereafter Battle” aimed at destroying the State of Israel and reshaping the Middle East.
Hamas’s plan, discussed in closed rooms and publicly echoed on Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel, included overthrowing pro-Western regimes in the Middle East and establishing the “Great Islamic Revolution,” meaning a caliphate—an Islamic state—on the ruins of Israel and Arab regimes.
The Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza (QCRG) operated an office in the Gaza Strip and frequently met with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior Hamas figures. It had direct access to information about Hamas’s goals and plans in the Middle East as part of the “Promise of the Hereafter Battle.”
While Qatar strengthens economic ties with the US, its policy of supporting Hamas, including after the Oct. 7 attack, has advanced moves that could have led to the creation of an Islamic Middle East, resembling the Islamic State of ISIS, hostile to the US and the West.
Strengthening strategic relations between the US and Qatar
In May 2025, US President Donald Trump concluded a successful visit to the Arabian Peninsula, including Qatar (May 14-15).
At the end of the visit, Trump announced a series of economic achievements, centered around the signing of a mutual trade agreement worth $1.2 trillion, along with economic deals totaling $243.5 billion. These include, among other things, Qatar’s purchase of Boeing aircraft and General Electric aircraft engines for Qatar Airways.
During the visit, Trump recognized Qatar’s continued efforts in supporting regional peace and praised its contributions as a frontline partner in global counter-terrorism and opposing violent extremism, and a critical contributor to crisis diplomacy.
Qatar: The association with Hamas aims to foster peace in the region
In an interview with US broadcaster Tucker Carlson, aired on March 7, 2025, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stated that peace is a fundamental principle for Qatar, and therefore, the country works to promote peace in the region and for its allies.
Mohammed emphasized that Qatar is a US ally, as evidenced by hosting a US Air Force base, assisting in the evacuation of American citizens from Afghanistan and facilitating the release of American hostages worldwide. Based on these contributions, he argued that criticism of Qatar effectively harms the US and its interests.
He explained that the Hamas office in Doha was established following a US request for Qatar to open communication channels with Hamas, similar to those maintained with the Afghan Taliban. According to him, the presence of the Hamas office in Qatar is intended to promote peace, as demonstrated multiple times through Qatar’s mediation between Israel and Hamas since 2014, following rounds of conflict between the two sides.
“If you have a presence of someone in your country and you are engaging and talking, it doesn’t mean that you are endorsing his ideas,” said Mohammed.
Hamas documents reveal strategic alliance with Qatar
Documents seized by the IDF in the Gaza Strip contradict the statements by Mohammed, who downplayed the significance of Qatar’s ties with Hamas.
Correspondence from mid-2022 between Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Gaza-based Sinwar, along with a document detailing a meeting between Haniyeh and the commander of Iran’s Al-Quds Force, reveals that senior Hamas officials:
- Maintained a very close relationship with Qatar’s leadership, evidenced by secret meetings and direct financial aid to Hamas.
- Designated Qatar a central role in politically and financially supporting the Palestinian cause.
- Believed Egypt, backed by the US and Israel, sought a leading role in Gaza’s reconstruction to demonstrate its political relevance to the US administration, control aid funds and influence Hamas, at Qatar’s expense.
- Acknowledged Egypt’s importance due to its shared border but clearly preferred Qatar to lead diplomatic efforts for the Palestinians, even granting Qatar a diplomatic achievement in 2020 over Egypt by securing a ceasefire after clashes between Hamas and Israel.
- Sought to continue Qatar’s direct cash aid transfers (via “suitcases of money”) to Gaza, lobbied Qatari authorities to avoid channeling aid through the Palestinian Authority or Egypt, and viewed the United Nations as the best alternative for managing aid if cash transfers were not feasible.
These findings highlight a strategic alliance between Hamas and Qatar, contradicting Qatar’s claim of merely hosting Hamas’s office for peace mediation.
Strong ties between the leadership of Qatar and Hamas
On May 23, 2021, Haniyeh, accompanied by Saleh al-Arouri, met the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Beyond his role as deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, al-Arouri served as the overseer of Hamas’s military wing activities in Judea and Samaria.
He was responsible for a long series of terrorist attacks against Israeli targets and played a key role in formulating the attack plan against Israel in coordination with the countries and organizations part of the “Unity of Fronts.”
During a secret one-on-one meeting with Haniyeh, the emir promised to provide financial aid discreetly, in addition to his commitment to fund Gaza’s reconstruction costs following the May 2021 conflict (“Operation Guardian of the Walls”). This promise of confidential financial assistance to Hamas’s leader suggests direct support for Hamas.
Haniyeh reported that he obtained $11 million in financial aid from Doha after delivering messages of goodwill from Sinwar and the mujahideen in Gaza. These remarks suggest that the Qatari leadership recognizes the possible connection between this financial aid and its potential use to support Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
Following a meeting with Haniyeh, the Qatari emir announced an allocation of $500 million in economic aid for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after the 2021 conflict.
On May 17, 2021, the Qatari newspaper Al Raya reported that Mohammed al-Emadi, head of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, confirmed that financial aid had been transferred to the families of 150 martyrs and to 800 homeowners whose properties were destroyed or damaged in the conflict with Israel.
Since Israel targeted military objectives during the conflict, it is likely that the Qatari aid was directed to the families of Hamas members and other militants who were killed or who lost their homes, as well as to the reconstruction of infrastructure belonging to Palestinian terrorist organizations.
Qatar’s favorable stance on Hamas stems from its refusal to label Hamas as a terrorist organization, unlike Israel and other nations.
The relationship between the QCRG and the Hamas leadership
The close relationship between Qatar and Hamas is evident through a series of frequent meetings held between 2020 and 2021. These meetings involved Sinwar and QCRG head al-Emadi. According to data from the QCRG, Qatar transferred at least $1.743 billion to the Gaza Strip between 2012 and 2022.
In July 2020, Haniyeh announced that Qatar had allocated $25 million to establish a city for Palestinian prisoners who have been released from Israeli jails. He described this city as a “beacon of life for the released.”
The term “prisoners” refers to Palestinians who have been convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. These individuals were released either after serving their sentences or as part of the October 2011 agreement in which Israel freed 1,027 security prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been kidnapped by Hamas in 2006.
Local government in the Gaza Strip was a puppet controlled by Hamas
Hamas played a central role in managing Qatari financial aid and its utilization. Haniyeh explained: “We [Hamas] assist them [the QCRG] in preparing the ground, logistics and supporting the work of the [government] offices [in the Gaza Strip, formally subordinate to the Palestinian Authority] and in implementing projects, while identifying priorities for them.”
Khaled Mashaal, the leader of Hamas operating abroad, acknowledged in an interview with Ammar Taqi, which aired on YouTube on Jan. 19, 2024, that Hamas effectively controls the government offices in the Gaza Strip. He stated that the group exploits this control to strengthen its military wing.
On Jan. 15, 2019, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, clarified that no conditions were imposed on the use of Qatari aid funds.
Mobilizing Qatari media to promote Hamas objectives
Haniyeh expressed his gratitude to Qatar’s leadership for its generous and ongoing economic support for the Gaza Strip. He connected this aid to Qatar’s actively engaged policy in supporting and advancing Palestinian political objectives, specifically the stated goals of Hamas.
Haniyeh’s remarks praising the Qatari media’s support for the Palestinian cause were substantiated by documents seized by the IDF and revealed on Oct. 23, 2024. These documents confirmed that six journalists in Gaza working for Al Jazeera—Anas al-Sharif, Alaa Salama, Hussam Shabat, Ashraf al-Sarraj, Ismail Abu Omar and Talal al-Arrouqi—were operatives of the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The IDF Spokesperson presented documents including personnel tables, lists of terrorism training courses, phone directories and salary records for terrorists, which unequivocally prove that these individuals function as military operatives of terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
Qatar supported Hamas’s attack aimed at destroying Israel and reshaping the Middle East
Qatar’s support for the Gaza Strip, the Hamas regime in Gaza and the advancement of Hamas’s objectives took place during the years when Hamas leaders were focused on developing the organization’s military wing.
They established a large-scale local weapons manufacturing industry, built an extensive network of over 600 kilometers (370 miles) of military tunnels, devised a plan for a large-scale military attack against Israel, formed an army of thousands of fighters, and engaged intensively in military training and preparations for executing the attack, which was ultimately carried out on Oct. 7, 2023.
As early as Oct. 19, 2014, a senior commander in the Al-Qassam Brigades announced that only a few years separated the Palestinian “resistance” from the “Hereafter Battle to humiliate the Jews,” described as the “battle for the liberation” of Palestine.
Two days later, on Oct. 21, 2014, the news channel Al-Hadath noted that “Hamas’s military and political leaders have recently reiterated the term ‘the Promise of the Hereafter’ as the name chosen by the movement for the upcoming battle with Israel, which will be the battle to liberate Palestine.”
At a memorial ceremony for Al-Qassam Brigades operatives in Khan Yunis on Nov. 16, 2018, Sinwar, speaking on behalf of Mohammed Deif, the supreme commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, stated: “Every new event [military confrontation with Israel] confirms that we are getting closer to realizing the Promise of the Hereafter by eliminating this occupation.”
In this context, Sinwar sent a threatening message to Arab states seeking to normalize relations with Israel, effectively warning that the “Hereafter Battle” to eliminate Israel could destabilize pro-Western Arab regimes in the Middle East.
Qatar’s support for the Hamas-led ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’—the Oct. 7 attack
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs exclusively held Israel responsible for the Oct. 7 attack. It emphasized that the “Al-Aqsa Flood” should not be used as justification for a disproportionate war against the residents of Gaza.
Qatar appeared to be trying to prevent or limit Israel’s retaliatory actions following the Hamas attack, which would align with Hamas’s strategic goals. Hamas sought to involve its “Unity of Fronts” partners in a military campaign against Israel while also making significant demands for the release of Israeli hostages, including the dismantling of settlements.
The Qatari newspapers characterized the “Al-Aqsa Flood” as “audacious,” “daring qualitative heroic operation,” “glorious Saturday,” “victory,” “a natural response to Israeli provocations,” “a strong slap in the face of the hypocrisy of the international community,” “awakening of the Palestinian nationalism” and “shatters the myth of the occupation.”
This is an edited version of an article published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
