Hamas in Qatar

vector art from pixabay.com

This is a post about the Hamas representatives who are living in Qatar. According to the Sunday Times, a British newspaper, in an article dated April 20, 2024, the Emirate (Qatar) has hosted representatives of Hamas since 2012.

Hamas is important because, since its founding in 1987, it has been by charter dedicated to destroying Israel and killing Jews. According to them, clearing Palestine of Jews is a religious duty. Their preferred method of accomplishing this is by bombings and terror attacks on civilians.

Qatar has been hosting top political leaders from Hamas on the request of the Americans and the Israelis. They find it necessary to keep an open channel of communication with Hamas to allow for negotiations, mostly over hostage exchanges. The Hamas members in Qatar were apparently “out of the loop” on the Hamas leadership’s planning for the bloody raid of October 7.

According to the newspaper, recently the Qatari government has tired of hosting Hamas representatives. The Hamas leaders have occasionally been accused of plotting terror attacks; once the Qataris deported one of them for this behavior. The newspaper describes the Hamas negotiators as being “obstinate.” In addition, Republicans have pressured Qatar to expel Hamas recently. Parenthetically, the largest American air base in the Middle East is in Qatar.

It is possible that “after the war ends” Qatar will get rid of the Hamas delegation. If so, there are few alternatives, all of them dangerous. The Israelis have pledged not to attack anyone in Qatar, but those in other countries are easy prey for Israel’s expert assassins.

The other members of Hamas leadership are in Gaza: the only name mentioned is Yahyah Sinwar, who the Israelis are trying to kill. They thought he was in Rafah, but the Americans have warned them that he is currently in Khan Younis. In any case, he is likely to be in a deep underground tunnel surrounded by hostages, according to military sources.

Recent outbreaks of fighting in northern Gaza have exposed the power vacuum there. They also demonstrate that Israel cannot wipe out Hamas, not even if they destroy Rafah and the tunnels. There will always be remnants that regenerate, possibly under new names, to fill power vacuums like the one in Gaza, wherever the Israeli army has been through.