Israeli Officials Allegedly Pressed Qatar to Fund Hamas-Controlled Gaza

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Israeli officials reportedly pressured Qatar for years to continue sending financial aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza, according to leaked letters and documents obtained by TIME. The reports suggest that Israel played a role in managing a program that funneled nearly $2 billion into the territory, despite public criticism of the aid.

Netanyahu’s Office Distances Itself from Payments

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is running in Israel’s October 27 national elections and was recently endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has tried to distance himself from the payments, according to TIME. However, officials in his administration were involved in ensuring the continued flow of funds.

Letters obtained by TIME reveal Israel played a bigger role in the payments than Netanyahu has acknowledged. https://t.co/M1oyRf1mFl

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Then-Mossad Director Yossi Cohen thanked Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in a 2020 letter for the “humanitarian aid efforts that the State of Qatar has provided the last few years to the Gaza Strip.” Cohen wrote that these efforts “have played a crucial role in improving the humanitarian situation within the Gaza Strip, and ensuring stability and safety in the region.”

That same year, R. L. Maoz, who served on Netanyahu’s National Security Council, urged Qatari officials to keep the payments going even as the Israeli government criticized them in public. Maoz wrote, “We reiterate the importance of continuing to transfer the Qatari humanitarian financial assistance through the existing mechanism.”

Then-Mossad Director David Barnea met with Qatari officials in September 2023, weeks before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Asked whether Israel wanted the payments to continue, Barnea responded affirmatively, according to The New York Times.

While Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment from TIME, he told the outlet in 2024 that the payments were intended to keep Gaza from collapsing. “The reason that successive governments agreed to that is that we wanted to make sure that Gaza has a functioning civilian administration to avoid humanitarian collapse,” he said.

A spokesperson for Qatar’s International Media Office told TIME that all of the country’s aid went through Israel on its way into Gaza. “If any funding reached Hamas, as alleged by individuals and groups with political agendas against Qatar, the responsibility lies with Israel, which oversaw the delivery and created the mechanism,” the spokesperson reportedly said.

Qatar and several other Arab nations are working with Trump administration envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on a plan to restore Gaza’s basic services and end its reliance on armed Islamist groups, according to TIME.

Source: Daily Caller