Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani reacts during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha on October 24. Photo by Nathan Howard/POOL/AFP

Columnist
Dan Perry
October 28, 2024

Israel’s lack of urgency to reach a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is no longer just annoying; from a Jewish perspective, with hostages dying in captivity, it is immoral. What allows the government to stand its ground is Hamas’s insistence that the Israelis withdraw from Gaza in exchange for the remaining 100 hostages. And now, the only party that might be able to break out of this impasse is Qatar – the country hosting the hostage talks resumed this week.

A complete and total paradigm shift is required. The time has come for Qatar to use its influence over Hamas, of which it is a major financial backer, to force the terrorist group to step down. If it does so, the United States will have more leverage to encourage the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to compromise for a deal.

The key: Qatar must convince Hamas to release the hostages it is holding and relinquish control of Gaza, allowing a version of the Palestinian Authority to re-establish rule there.

The Arab state has so far assumed a neutral role in the conflict, facilitating ceasefire talks without actively changing its position towards Hamas. But after a year of war that has seen much of Hamas’s leadership removed, tens of thousands of people killed and much of Gaza reduced to rubble, the time has come for Qatar to choose: will it be an enabler of terror or a leader for peace?

For years, Qatar has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas in Gaza under the banner of humanitarian aid. In effect, it isolated Hamas from the economic restrictions that Israel and Egypt have otherwise imposed through the blockade of Gaza that they have maintained since Hamas took over in 2007.

These funds contribute to a wide range of critical civilian needs in the strip, including infrastructure, fuel subsidies and healthcare. But they also allowed Hamas to maintain control of Gaza and continue its operations.

Direct cash assistance from Qatar is used to pay the salaries of civil servants – who, given Hamas’ control of the strip, are largely affiliated with the group. The development projects that Qatar supports increase Hamas’s credibility by allowing it to run public services. In addition, Qatar subsidized fuel and electricity supplies, ensuring that Hamas could provide basic services and minimizing potential public backlash from Gazan civilians – who, I must remind, were not given the opportunity to vote for their own management since 2006.

Additionally, following previous conflicts with Israel, Qatar provided reconstruction funding that was vital to rebuilding Gaza – but also prevented political fallout for Hamas, helping it retain support.

Adding to this influence, Qatar has long provided a safe haven for Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh — whom Israel assassinated in July — and Khaled Meshaalwhich still uses Doha as a base for fundraising, diplomacy and organizational efforts. Together, these financial and logistical supports empower Hamas to continue its campaign of terror against Israel and its undisputed dominance of Gaza.

But at this point – ​​after a year of war that has decimated Hamas’ leadership in Gaza, killed tens of thousands of civilians and reduced much of the strip to rubble – it must be clear to Qatar’s leaders that allowing Hamas to remaining in power will only ensure further violence, radicalization and a cycle of suffering that will consume generations to come. The Arab world is increasingly focused on economic integration and regional stability, and Qatar’s support for a group engaged in perpetual conflict is not only increasingly out of step with its neighbors, but an active liability. They need to cut their losses and push for change.

The US has influence over Qatar and should force the issue.

A key factor is that the US military maintains a strong presence in Qatar; The country’s Al Udeid Air Base is home to the forward headquarters of the US Central Command, known as CENTCOM, the branch of the US military that oversees operations in the Middle East. Al Udeid supports US air operations, intelligence and logistics through the region, a partnership that makes Qatar a key American ally, a role he values. The US can use the benefits to Qatar through the presence of CENTCOM as bargaining chips to push Qatar to act on Hamas.

What should Qatar do, practically? Here are the steps:

• Issue an immediate and public appeal to Hamas at the highest level to immediately return the hostages and lay down their arms, allowing the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to regain control of Gaza.
• Offer to play a major role—perhaps along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Arab and Western nations—in pacifying Gaza and rebuilding it. The sums required will be extravagant; the economic pain will be worth it to allow for long-term peace.
• Offer asylum to any Hamas leaders still in Gaza who want it, and strike a deal with Israel to allow them to safely leave the strip.
• It states that if Hamas does not accept this offer, there will be no further support from Qatar, and all Hamas leaders who remain in Qatar will be either expelled or arrested.

This will immediately create public pressure to comply with Netanyahu’s bad faith and strategically blind government. The US must help force him to abandon his outrageous refusal to work to install an alternative to Hamas in Gaza. With Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who he was killed on October 16off-road, there’s a chance it’ll be more open to resolution than before.

But above all, the most important role the US can play now is to make clear to Qatar that if it fails to act more decisively in peacemaking, there will be repercussions.

Doha’s ambitions to become a leading voice in the Muslim world are incompatible with its support for a designated terrorist organization responsible for some of the most egregious atrocities in recent history. Qatar sought to play a dual role: financing Hamas while promoting itself as a neutral broker. The US should state that that game is over.

Qatar has a choice: it can continue on a path that isolates it from its neighbors and the international community, or it can take a stand for peace, stability and the well-being of the Palestinian people. The future of the region may very well depend on the path it chooses.