Qatar’s relationship with Hamas began at the request of the United States, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said in a Sunday interview with Tucker Carlson at The Doha Forum.
Thani also stated that Qatar’s connections to Hamas have always been in the service of peace, saying that when Hamas moved its office to Qatar, “it was used only for the [purpose of] communication and to facilitate ceasefire, facilitating aid to Gaza.”
Thani further defended the country’s relationship with Hamas by emphasizing the need for communication between all parties in a conflict, referring to the terror group as a “non-state actor.”
“If you have no one speaking to those non-state actors, how are we going to resolve or reach a solution at the end of the day?” he asked.
Thani credits ceasefire to Qatari mediation
Thani credited the ceasefires, the release of the hostages, and the alleviation of suffering to this communication, and denounced politicians who he claimed were trying to use Qatar to support their own narratives or to blame other countries for what was happening in Gaza.
Thani also strongly disputed the claim that aid and financial support went to Hamas, claiming that all support went to the people of Gaza in “a very transparent process that the United States is fully aware about.”
He further went on to say that not only has the current Israeli government been facilitating the delivery of Qatari aid, but so have previous governments led by Netanyahu, Naftali Bennet, and Yair Lapid.
Thani added that there can be no basis in the claims of Qatar funding Hamas, and that such claims are “a way to spread disinformation about a country that doesn’t do anything [to] them but is doing things that are against their policies.”
Qatar has always been focused on peace, Thani said, “and this peace cannot happen without an engagement with everyone in the region.”