Qatar denies funding Hamas, blames Israel for money reaching terror group

Despite Doha’s denials, it is estimated that Qatar has given at least $1.8 billion to Hamas.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Qatar denied directly funding Hamas, arguing that if Qatari assistance ultimately reached the terrorist group, it occurred outside aid channels that Doha says were approved and overseen by Israel.

Responding to reports in Israeli media about Qatari money entering Gaza, Doha said its assistance was designated for Palestinian civilians and provided through arrangements involving Israeli authorities and international organizations.

Under those mechanisms, Qatar said, money and humanitarian supplies including food, medicine and fuel passed through Israel before entering Gaza.

United Nations organizations, rather than Qatar, were responsible for delivering the assistance in coordination with Israeli authorities.

Doha pointed to Israel’s own role in the arrangements, saying successive Israeli governments supported Qatari assistance to Gaza and that Israeli security agencies were involved in the process.

“Any funding that may have reached Hamas outside these mechanisms had nothing to do with Qatar,” the statement said.

Qatar rejected Israeli media allegations about the destination of its aid as “categorically false” and accused elements of Israel’s far right and other political figures of attempting to make the Gulf state a scapegoat for domestic political failures.

However, despite Qatar’s denials, several media outlets have reported that Doha has been providing financial support to the Gaza-based terror group.

The Qatar money trail dates back to 2007, when Qatar and Turkey were the only countries to support Hamas after the group drove the Palestinian Authority out of the Gaza Strip.

Ties between Doha and Hamas grew closer in 2008 and 2009, when Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal attended a summit in Doha and was seated alongside then-Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The emir pledged $250 million toward repairing damage in Gaza from the war with Israel.

It is estimated that Qatar has given at least $1.8 billion to Hamas.

A Qatari official told Der Spiegel in 2023 that $30 million was transferred to Hamas each month.

Qatar also became a base for the group’s political leadership, a role the United States reportedly asked Doha to assume in 2011 to facilitate communication with Hamas.