Qatar has denied allegations that it directly transferred funds to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, responding to a recent report that examined Qatari aid before the outbreak of violence on October 7, 2023. In an official statement issued Monday, the Qatari International Media Office asserted that all assistance provided to Gaza was intended for Palestinian civilians and delivered through channels coordinated with Israeli authorities and international partners.
The statement emphasized that all financial aid, food, medicine, and fuel destined for Gaza passed through Israel, with Israeli involvement at every stage. Qatar rejected claims that it funded Hamas, instead assigning responsibility to Israel for overseeing aid consignments, citing cooperation under successive prime ministers including Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, and Benjamin Netanyahu. The statement referenced Israeli security agencies Mossad and Shin Bet as overseeing the delivery process.
The report in question claimed that Qatar transferred roughly $30 million monthly to Gaza, aimed at paying government employee salaries and supporting infrastructure. Despite concerns in Israel that some of the funds may have reached Hamas’s military wing, the transfers continued. Israeli officials are reported to have objected internally, but no halt was imposed. The push to maintain payments was reportedly prompted by Netanyahu, following a sharp decrease in financial transfers by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after an assassination attempt on former Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in 2018.
At the center of the controversy are Netanyahu associates Yonatan Urich, Israel Einhorn, and Eli Feldstein, who are suspected of working on Qatar’s behalf while employed in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. Investigations suggest they sought to portray Qatar as a neutral mediator in hostage negotiations and to shift blame away from Doha regarding any Hamas funding. They allegedly disseminated pro-Qatar and anti-Egypt messages falsely attributed to Israeli security and political sources.
Qatar strongly criticized the report’s motivations and accuracy, dismissing it as more akin to an amateur blog than a credible journalistic investigation. The Qatari statement accused elements within Israel’s far right of fabricating documents and propagating falsehoods aimed at damaging Qatar’s reputation and undermining peace efforts.
Separately, in a speech delivered to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza, describing them as a "genocide in every sense of the word" and a moral blot on humanity. He highlighted Qatar’s role in mediating a cease-fire in Gaza and warned that Israeli aggression risked destabilizing neighboring countries.
The evolving situation surrounding Gaza aid illustrates the complex interplay of regional diplomacy, security concerns, and competing narratives amid ongoing conflict in the region.