Natalie Ecanow
The US-Qatar relationship is in dire need of a reset, and Israel’s recent actions provide a great opportunity to do just that.
Washington can’t seem to quit Qatar. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made that much clear when he departed Israel for Doha on September 15. Speaking to members of the press, Rubio doubled down on the administration’s view that “Qatar can play a very key role” in negotiating an end to the war in Gaza.
Nearly two years have passed since the White House tapped Doha to mediate between Hamas and Israel. Despite repeated failures at the negotiating table, successive US administrations have refused to sideline Qatar, a longtime sponsor of Hamas that has repeatedly blamed Israel for the war the terrorist group started.
Israel issued a stark reminder of the patronage Qatar has offered Hamas when it targeted the terror group’s leadership in Doha on September 9. Qatar’s relationship with Hamas goes back to the 1990s, when Doha offered the group sanctuary following its expulsion from Jordan. Hamas chose Syria but, in 2012, established a home away from home in Doha. Qatar continues to shelter Hamas’s politburo and, at least until the outbreak of the current war, shoveled millions of dollars into the terrorist group’s coffers.
Qatari officials maintain that Hamas opened an office in Doha following “a request from Washington to establish indirect lines of communication with Hamas,” and that Doha has “no reason to close” the office if it can facilitate diplomacy. A former Obama administration official said in 2023 that there had been no such request.
Whatever the truth, the arrangement hasn’t worked to secure peace. Qatar has repeatedly failed to exercise leverage over Hamas, and neither the Biden nor Trump administrations have done anything about it. It’s past time for Washington to hold Qatar accountable for taking advantage of US trust.
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