{"id":624046,"date":"2026-09-22T16:46:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/624046\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T16:46:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:46:38","slug":"qatar-seeks-to-abandon-hamas-after-iran-attacks-harm-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/624046\/","title":{"rendered":"Qatar seeks to abandon Hamas after Iran attacks harm economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doha is attempting to publicly distance itself from Hamas<\/a>, denying that it knowingly funded the group, as attacks on its oil infrastructure have pushed Qatar to pursue financial relationships with Western groups that are less willing to engage with a country associated with the Palestinian terrorist organization, Dr. Ariel Admoni, a researcher of Qatari policy at Ariel University and the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Admoni spoke with the Post after Qatar\u2019s<\/a> International Media Office issued multiple statements rejecting accusations that Doha had directly funded Hamas. The office claimed that the allegations originated from a \u201csustained campaign involving pro-Israel media, lobbyists, lawyers, think tanks, and so-called research organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The office further argued that any Qatari funds that reached Hamas<\/a> did so as a result of Israeli failures, while maintaining that Qatar had coordinated with international partners to ensure humanitarian aid reached Palestinian civilians in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Admoni said the statements represented a noticeable change in tone for a country that hosts Hamas\u2019s leadership, whose state-funded media reportedly operates under a directive to portray Hamas sympathetically and which has allegedly spent years financing the terrorist group, according to Hamas\u2019s own documentation.<\/p>\n

According to Hamas documents seized by Israel and obtained by The New Yorker, Hamas officials directly thanked Qatari leaders for financial support, describing Qatari grants as \u201cthe main artery of the Hamas movement.\u201d Qatar has rejected the documents as \u201cfalsified and fabricated information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PalestinianPalestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard at a site as Hamas says it continues to search for the bodies of deceased hostages, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip December 3, 2025. (credit: REUTERS\/STRINGER)<\/p>\n

Doha had also rejected accusations that it supported Hamas financially in the past, notably denying US House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer\u2019s 2024 claim that Qatar had paid Hamas $30 million per month since 2018.<\/p>\n

Though Qatar has long denied the allegations, Admoni noted that the seriousness of its response, including threats of legal action and countering with allegations that Israel\u2019s far right is using Doha<\/a> to \u201cdeflect attention from domestic political failure,\u201d was a sign that Qatar wanted to \u201crebrand itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admoni: Qatar relying on American financial systems<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a delicate time for Qatar, because right now, they rely on American financial systems,\u201d he explained, highlighting recent meetings Qatar has held with potential investors in recent days.<\/p>\n

Qatar\u2019s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani met with President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google, Ruth Porat, and with Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates on Monday, on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Doha\u2019s Foreign Ministry confirmed.<\/p>\n

It was also announced on Monday that the Qatar Investment Authority and J.P. Morgan Asset Management agreed to a $20 billion strategic partnership spanning public equities and private credit, which would expand the fund\u2019s investment ties with the US.<\/p>\n

With Qatar\u2019s energy-based economy still suffering as a result of Iranian attacks, \u201cthey need the American financial system by their side,\u201d Admoni reasoned, adding that Doha was particularly aware of the \u201cimportance of narrative\u201d and image when engaging with American industry giants.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s attacks knocked out 17% of Qatari LNG in March alone<\/p>\n

The hydrocarbon sector contributed around 60% of Qatar\u2019s GDP in 2024, making it a significant resource for the Qatari economy, and Iran\u2019s attacks in March alone knocked out 17% of Qatar\u2019s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue, according to statements made by QatarEnergy\u2019s CEO and Energy Affairs Minister Saad al-Kaabi to Reuters.<\/p>\n

Though Admoni said that Qatar\u2019s \u201cvulnerability is showing\u201d as a result of the war, and \u201cQatari money seems less persuasive than before,\u201d he maintained that he had not witnessed a drastic change in attitude from the West, which still seems willing to accept Qatar\u2019s peacemaker image.<\/p>\n

Still, he insisted that the excuse Qatar has so far used to maintain ties with Hamas would continue to be threatened as international media probes deeper into the \u201cterror kingpin\u201d funding the Islamist groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Doha is attempting to publicly distance itself from Hamas, denying that it knowingly funded the group, as attacks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1809,50,51,42,87,47,43,1823,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-624046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-doha","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-qatar","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}