Qatari support for Hamas

Qatar has been a key financial supporter of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, transferring more than $1.8 billion to Hamas over the years. In consultation with the U.S. and Israeli governments, $30 million were transferred monthly to Hamas, according to a Qatari official interviewed by Der Spiegel in 2023.

The United States requested in 2011 that Qatar provide a base for the Hamas leadership to ease communications with the group. From 2012, Qatar hosted the Hamas party leadership when Hamas head Khaled Mashal relocated from Syria to Qatar. The former head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, had resided in Doha since 2016 until his death in 2024. Qatar has been called Hamas' most important financial backer and foreign ally.

From 2018 to 2023, Israel's government enabled and approved of the Qatari support for Hamas for political reasons.

In May 2024, it was reported that the United States had urged Qatar to remove Hamas leaders from its territory if they declined to agree to a hostage deal with Israel. Later, it was reported that Qatar is reviewing the future of Hamas' office in Doha as part of a broader evaluation of its role as a mediator in the Gaza war. In November 2024, reports emerged that Qatar had ended its mediation between Israel and Hamas and ordered the group to leave the country following U.S. pressure, after another Hamas rejection of a ceasefire deal. However, both Qatar and Hamas denied the claims.