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From Mediator to Target: Qatar's Gamble with Hamas Backfires

(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Dalia Ziada - By striking Hamas leaders in Doha, Israel crossed a threshold that will reshape the power and diplomacy dynamics in the Middle East. For decades, Qatar positioned itself as both a U.S. ally and a supporter of Hamas. It housed the group's leadership, financed its operations, and used Al Jazeera's platform to spin Hamas's terrorism into "resistance." It also aimed for Western approval by acting as a mediator, essential to hostage negotiations. That fragile balancing act is now broken. Commentators lamented: how could Israel dare to strike inside the borders of a "kind-hearted mediator" like Qatar? Just one day earlier, Al Jazeera celebrated a Hamas-claimed bus attack in Jerusalem. Hamas leaders in Doha praised it as a "heroic act" and called for more such assaults. When Hamas carried out the horrific Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Al Jazeera live-broadcasted Hamas leaders in Doha celebrating the attack with a prayer of gratitude. Qatar cannot host, fund, and empower the masterminds of terrorism while feigning surprise when those very terrorists bring Israeli fire onto Qatari soil. A state cannot sponsor terrorists while expecting immunity from the consequences. If Qatar enables Hamas to attack a neighboring sovereign state, then Israel will inevitably extend the battlefield to Qatar itself. For Israel, this strike was a declaration of a new deterrence doctrine. Hamas leaders once believed they were untouchable. Israel has altered the rules of the game. Now, no sanctuary is guaranteed. This sends shockwaves throughout the region. Turkey, Lebanon, and even European capitals that quietly support Islamist networks must face the new reality. Israel has shown it is ready to go after Hamas not only in Gaza or the West Bank. Qatar's claim to be a mediator now lies in ruins. Mediation only holds credibility when the mediator is impartial or at least not actively fueling one side. Qatar's financial pipelines to Hamas and its ideological promotion of Islamist narratives disqualify it from that role. Every "ceasefire deal" in Gaza over the past two years that Qatar championed was less about achieving peace and more about throwing Hamas a lifeline. Israel has redrawn the map of accountability in the Middle East. The writer, an Egyptian scholar, is a Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Center.
2025-09-11 00:00:00
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