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Qatar and Turkey Want to Rebuild Hamas, Not Reconstruct Gaza

(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - In addition to Iran, Qatar and Turkey have long been sponsoring and funding Hamas and providing the terror group's leaders with shelter. In the time-honored tradition of Arab politeness, these countries may well be telling Trump what he would like to hear - secure in the knowledge that in three years, he will be off their backs. Meanwhile, they will have positioned themselves comfortably in Gaza. A senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer told Ynet: "Qatar and certainly Turkey must not have a foothold in Gaza again. The UAE, Egypt and Jordan hate Hamas....Qatar is the one that funded Hamas in the years leading up to Oct. 7....Qatar and Turkey are both Muslim Brotherhood members who support Hamas." Qatar has transferred $1.8 billion to Hamas over the past two decades. Documents seized by the IDF reveal Qatar's intensive collaboration with Hamas spanning years, including attempts to thwart regional peace efforts by the U.S., marginalize Egyptian influence in Gaza, and bolster the roles of Turkey and Iran. The documents revealed that Qatari intelligence officials met with a Hamas representative to discuss supervising special training units for Hamas fighters on military bases in Qatar and Turkey. It is laughable - and dangerous - to assume that under their current rulers, Qatar and Turkey would ever play a positive and constructive role in ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East. Qatar and Turkey are not interested in the reconstruction of Gaza. Instead, they are interested in rebuilding Hamas's military and civilian capabilities and ensuring that the terror group, perhaps in some rebranded form, remains in power. The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
2025-10-19 00:00:00
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