Along with Iran, Qatar is a major backer of Hamas, but, unlike Iran, it is an American ally apt susceptible to diplomatic pressure from Washington. Yigal Carmon examines the problem, and notes that Doha’s support for terror goes far beyond Gaza:
The story of Afghanistan is the most telling. For years, Qatar had funded the Taliban, all the way up to its takeover of Kabul in August 2021, which involved the killing of thirteen U.S. military personnel—only to be praised by the U.S. administration for its help in transferring Americans from Afghanistan to Qatar, after Qatar was responsible for the entire tragedy.
With regard to Israel, it is a double tragedy. For over a decade, Qatar funded Hamas in Gaza. For over a decade, and throughout the wars—culminating in the current one—Qatar supported Hamas’s buildup of its military force.
The U.S.’s pleading with Qatar to obtain the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, instead of pressuring it to do so, shows that the U.S. government does not realize that only massive pressure on Qatar could most quickly bring the American and other hostages home.
Just one comment by the U.S. administration that it is considering relocating its Al Udeid Air Base from Qatar (without which Qatar would cease to exist within a week) to the UAE will set the Qataris running to bring all the American hostages back home.
Read more on MEMRI: https://www.memri.org/reports/qatar-%E2%80%93-enabler-islamist-terrorism-and-dishonest-broker