Hamas Backers Gather in Qatar for Ismail Haniyeh’s Funeral

Latest Developments

Mourners gathered in Doha, Qatar, on August 2 to pay their respects to Hamas’s late political chief, Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh died in a presumed Israeli hit on his guesthouse in Tehran on July 31, and his body was subsequently flown to Qatar for burial. The funeral brought together senior leaders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including Hamas’s de facto foreign minister, Khaled Meshal — widely tipped as Haniyeh’s successor as the principal political leader of Hamas — as well as high-ranking officials from Qatar, Iran, and Turkey. Senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya, who attended the funeral in Doha, assured mourners that “the path of the resistance will continue and Haniyeh’s blood will not be [spilled] in vain.”

Memorial ceremonies were also held outside of Qatar, in Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Malaysia, among other locations. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon, addressed the crowd in Beirut, warning that the region has “entered a new stage” and that Israel should await “the revenge of the honorable people in this nation, for all this blood.” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Haniyeh’s assassination was “an incident of [the] worst brutality” shortly before a memorial ceremony commenced in Islamabad.

Expert Analysis

“Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, presided over a funeral for a Hamas terrorist where bloodthirsty calls for revenge against Israel were loudly broadcast. Yet the United States and other Western countries continue to depict Qatar as an enlightened mediator, rather than the terror-sponsoring emirate that it really is. With the region on a knife-edge, it’s no longer tenable for the outside world to remain in denial about Qatar’s double game.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“There are moments when foreign leaders show their true faces; this is one of those moments. The Al Thani regime in Qatar and the Erdogan regime in Turkey are active supporters of Hamas and other radical extremists. The United States should respond accordingly.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

Qatar’s Relationship with Hamas

Qatar sided with Hamas and endorsed its takeover of Gaza in 2007. Since then, Doha has provided political and financial assistance to the Islamist group, pumping at least $1.8 billion into Gaza’s Hamas-run government. Hamas also maintains a political office in Doha, where several of the group’s senior leaders live in luxury. Despite enabling Hamas and holding “Israel alone responsible” for Hamas’s October 7 terrorist atrocities, Qatar has positioned itself as a mediator between Hamas and Israel with the assent of the United States.

Turkey and Malaysia: State Sponsors of Hamas

Hamas established a presence in Turkey in 2011 with the permission of the Turkish government. Since then, Ankara has provided Hamas with significant funding, materiel, and political support. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan considers Hamas terrorists “freedom fighters” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “butcher” and “war criminal.” In a display of solidarity, Turkish embassies in Israel and the United States lowered their flags to half-mast this week to mourn the death of Haniyeh.

Hamas has planned attacks and trained on Malaysian soil for over a decade and leverages the Southeast Asian country to move funds. Following Hamas’s October 7 attack, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that his government had “a relationship with Hamas from before and this will continue.” Ibrahim further maintained on November 9 that Malaysia will not “punish the group as a terrorist organization” even if that leaves Kuala Lumpur vulnerable to Western sanctions.

Related Analysis

“10 Things to Know About Hamas and Qatar,” FDD Insight

“10 Things to Know About Hamas and Turkey,” FDD Insight

“Erdogan’s Turkey: Champion of Hamas, and an adversary of the West,” by Sinan Ciddi

“Malaysian PM Reaffirms Friendship With Hamas,” FDD Flash Brief