Reports in Israeli media on Sunday revealed that documents uncovered in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) indicated a close, years-long relationship between the government of Qatar and the genocidal terrorist organization Hamas, including the emir of the country fundraising for the jihadists.
Documents reportedly included conversations and letters by some of Hamas’s most senior leaders, including the slain political chief Ismail Haniyeh – who lived in luxury in Doha before his demise in a mysterious explosion in Tehran last year – and Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. The communications reportedly covered the period between 2017 and 2022 in which Saudi Arabia led a Gulf nation blockade of the Qatari economy in response to Doha’s close relationship with the Iranian terror state. Iran is the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism and believed to be one of Hamas’s closest financial and ideological backers. Israel’s Channel 12 first reported on the documents.
“In one 2019 communication, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh described Qatari funds as the group’s ‘main artery,’ with financial transfers totaling millions of dollars each month,” i24 News reported, “approved by Israel as part of temporary de-escalation understandings.”
The network noted that in one letter, from Haniyeh to Sinwar, Hamas officials confirmed that the highest levels of the Qatari government had agreed to fundraise $11 million for the jihadist organization.
Other alleged documents highlighted by the Times of Israel indicated that Qatar was helping Hamas undermine efforts in 2019 by the administration of President Donald Trump to normalize relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors; Saudi Arabia elicited particular concern from the jihadists. That year, the American government had debuted what Trump called a “deal of the century” to normalize Israel’s relations with its neighbors and end Palestinian terrorism.
“In an emergency June 2019 meeting, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani met with Hamas leaders regarding concerns over Trump’s plans for peace and for Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel,” the Times of Israel reported, citing the Gaza documents.
“We need to cooperate in order to resist the deal of the century and thwart it,” Hamas official Khaled Mashaal reportedly told the emir, referring to the Trump plan.
Other documents in the dump allegedly showed Qatari efforts, at the behest of Hamas, to sideline diplomacy by Egypt and expand Doha’s influence in any negotiations to end the conflict between the jihadists and Israel.
Sinwar reportedly wrote in one of the letters, in 2021, that Egypt was “attempting to restrain the escalation” at the time between Hamas and Israel, which he opposed.
“We caused them to leave the picture with empty hands. In their place, the Qataris came, and we gave them an opportunity to dictate the fruits of diplomacy,” he allegedly wrote.
In 2019, and during much of the time allegedly covered by the documents, Qatar was the subject of an economic blockade by many of its Gulf neighbors, an effort spearheaded by Saudi Arabia to object to Qatar’s increasingly close relationship with Iran at the time. Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, the legitimate government of Yemen, and the Maldives all agreed to cut relations with Qatar in 2017, objecting to statements from Qatari leaders that indicated support for terror sponsor Iran. The parties involved also condemned Qatar for tolerating and maintaining ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar has a long history of maintaining relations with terrorist organizations and selling itself as a “mediator” country between the terrorists and their victim states, including hosting the Afghan Taliban until the end of the Afghan War in 2021.
The conflict became so severe that, in 2018, the government of Saudi Arabia reportedly considered a plan to construct a “canal” that would essentially saw Qatar off of the Arabian Peninsula and turn it into an island.
The Gulf states mended fences with Qatar in 2021; Saudi Arabia lifted its economic blockade and Qatar was welcomed into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) once again. The rift was repaired in anticipation of Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, allowing for senior Gulf leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to visit the country and embrace its leadership in public.
The Qatari government has also endeavored to improve its relations with the Trump administration during the president’s second term. In May Trump became the first American president in history to visit Qatar, where he received an ostentatious welcome and signed several agreements with the government there.
President Donald Trump participates in signing ceremony and exchange of agreements with Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
Following that visit, Qatar potentially giving America a Boeing 747 aircraft to replace the current iteration of Air Force One became an issue as President Trump announced that Doha would give the plane “FREE OF CHARGE” and called Democratic opponents “World Class Losers” for questioning the agreement. The Qatari government later clarified that talks regarding the jet were still occurring and “reports that a jet is being gifted by Qatar to the United States government during the upcoming visit of President Trump are inaccurate.”
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