The editor-in-chief of a Qatari daily that maintains close ties to Doha’s ruling family last week hailed attempts by the Hamas terror group to kidnap Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
“If success is not achieved this time in capturing Zionist soldiers,” Al-Sharq‘s Jaber al-Harmi tweeted on Aug. 20, “then the second, third and fourth attempts will succeed, Inshallah, by adding new rats to the tally held by the heroes of [Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam] Brigades.”
Al-Harmi posted just hours after Hamas terrorists attempted to kidnap Israeli soldiers in Gaza, praising the ambush as a “qualitative operation” and lauding the perpetrators as “heroes.”
“Blessed be the hands of the heroes,” he wrote, adding: “And may the hands of the vile criminal outcasts be paralyzed.”
The post was subsequently deleted or removed from the X platform.
Headquartered in Doha, Al-Sharq is considered pro-government in its editorial stance and often reflects official regime messaging. It is one of Qatar’s three leading Arabic-language dailies.
The publisher of Al-Sharq, Dar Al Sharq, is privately held but owned by Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Abdullah Al Thani, a senior member of Qatar’s ruling family and a prominent businessman.
Over the course of the 22-month war between Israel and Hamas, al-Harmi has called for “harvesting the heads” of Israelis and praised slain Hamas senior leader Yahya Sinwar.
Qatar has served as the key mediator in hostage talks between Israel and Hamas, alongside Egypt and the United States.
Doha is currently spearheading a campaign to establish a school in Kyrgyzstan honoring Anas al-Sharif, a Hamas Nukhba terrorist killed by the Israel Defense Forces.
Qatari Education Minister Lolwah al-Khater is leading the effort to memorialize al-Sharif, who also worked as a journalist for Al Jazeera. Qatari media reported that the school will be built in Kyrgyzstan, a Muslim-majority country in Central Asia.
In February, al-Khater praised Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas’s “military” wing, following confirmation of his death.
In 2024, a top Qatari official told the Arab League that there can be no negotiations as the Jewish people are “slayers of prophets.”
Essa bin Ahmad al-Nassr, who serves on the Shura Council legislature and holds the rank of brigadier-general in the Qatari Armed Forces’ Emiri Guard protection unit, also threatened Israel’s annihilation.
Fifty hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, with 49 taken 690 days ago and one, IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, abducted in 2014. Of the 50, Israel presumes that 20 are alive.
