Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday accused Qatar of “still” supporting Hamas, a “genocidal terrorist regime.”
After the Arab nation dubbed remarks made by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office as “incendiary,” accusing him of using “false narratives to justify crimes against innocent civilians,” the Israeli ministry tweeted that Qatar “is confused or wants to confuse the world,” adding, “Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.”
Hamas, on the other hand, “Is a genocidal terrorist regime that murdered more than 1,100 innocent people on Oct. 7 and still holds 59 innocent people hostage,” the statement continued, referring to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in Israel’s western Negev.
“Unfortunately, Qatar still seems to support Hamas. Israel will win this just war with just means. Qatar must decide if it is on the side of genocidal terror regimes or on the side of those who counter their evil,” the foreign ministry concluded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed a similar message on Sunday, publicly criticizing Qatar on Sunday during his meeting with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides.
The Israeli premier said that Israel was pressuring Hamas to release the hostages and asking its allies “to press not only Hamas but Qatar, that has overwhelming influence over Hamas, which it doesn’t always use but could use.
“In fact, we had a hostage deal about to materialize that would have released almost half of the hostages and with the help of Egypt. We didn’t see the Qatari cooperation, that’s to say the least, that could have brought this deal to fruition,” he continued.
Qatar has served as the key mediator in hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas since the outbreak of the war. However, Netanyahu’s remarks signaled increasing frustration in Jerusalem over Doha’s role.
Likud Party lawmaker Avichai Boaron told JNS on Tuesday that Qatar was no longer a viable intermediary in talks with Hamas.
“It wasn’t a mistake to use Qatar as a middleman as long as we could get hostages out of Gaza—and it worked. But now this isn’t materializing anymore, and Doha might be the problem,” he added.
He described Qatar as an “enemy state,” accusing it of financing Hamas-controlled Gaza and funding Al Jazeera, which he said exacerbates tensions between Israel and Hamas. “Qatar could pressure Hamas to release the hostages, and they choose not to,” he asserted.
“Since we stopped getting our daughters and sons from the hands of Hamas, Qatar isn’t doing its job,” Boaron continued. “We have to deal with Qatar as an enemy state that we do not trust.”