Qatar's role in achieving the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas by Dr. Ariel Admoni

 


Source: Vox.com


Qatar's role in achieving the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas

Dr. Ariel Admoni



Over the past three decades, Qatar has demonstrated a keen ability to leverage its connections with terrorist organizations. Doha displayed this skill in August by facilitating German mediation with the Taliban. However, the most prominent example is undoubtedly its relationship with Hamas. Trump's entry into the White House presented a unique challenge for Qatar. During his previous term, Trump initiated opposition to Qatar, but in the latter part of his presidency, he came to rely on and support Qatar, even maintaining the American base there. 

Against this backdrop, Qatar needed to demonstrate to the Trump administration that it was in its best interest to continue relying on Qatar to manage relations with Hamas. Qatar was aided by the fact that many of the new appointees in Trump's administration were sympathetic to Qatar. To strengthen this, Qatar intensified business initiatives with figures in Trump's circle.

The Qatari strategy proved successful. The declaration by Steve Witkoff that the Qatari Prime Minister had done "God's work" in the mediation provided a powerful stamp of legitimacy for the Qataris. Moreover, during the recent mediation, other countries turned to Qatar to communicate with Hamas on their behalf. One example was Nepal's request for Qatar to work towards the release of a Nepalese hostage in Gaza. Qatar, in turn, was able to leverage these requests to renegotiate economic agreements.

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