‘Strategic Buttress’: Shin Bet Calls Out Qatar’s Funding of Hamas Terror

Latest Developments

Rare Public Report: Israel’s Shin Bet security service published an eight-page redacted summary on March 4 of an internal investigation into its contributions to the failure to anticipate or prevent that the Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities by Hamas. The report said that the Shin Bet did not underestimate Hamas’s motivation to strike but did suffer from a lack of intelligence cover and coordination, which might have allowed the signs of action to be observed and correctly interpreted ahead of the assault.
Qatar Cited Twice: In a section on five key factors that allowed Hamas to build up the necessary army-scale capabilities, the main point centered upon the “atmosphere of quiet” that reigned around the Iran-backed terrorist group in the run-up to the attack, followed by “the flow of Qatari funds and their transfer to the military wing and its force build-up.” Elsewhere, the report stated that Hamas’s achievement of strike capacity “was to a large degree due to the strategic buttress provided by Iran and the use of the funds that came in from Iran and Qatar.”
Human Intelligence Shortfall: The report highlighted the lack of Palestinian informants in the field, meaning that there was insufficient human intelligence about an unusual event about to take place. It noted this was in part due to the exposure of agents following a botched IDF special forces operation in Khan Younis in 2018. “Limits on activities in the Gaza Strip have for years — and especially recent years — set a very high bar for the recruitment and running of human sources,” the report said.

FDD Expert Response

“After the 2014 Gaza war, Israel convinced itself that funneling hundreds of millions of dollars from Qatar — an Islamist state — into Gaza would prevent future conflicts by sustaining normal Palestinian civilian life. The national security establishment, at least publicly, backed this theory and approved a program to ensure the funds went to legitimate projects. However, the fundamental fungibility of money was ignored, as was the reality that Hamas used construction and humanitarian initiatives as a shadow government, handling civilian affairs while preparing for war. A full investigation is also needed into whether Qatar knowingly financed Hamas’s military wing — an allegation long rumored but that now must be fully examined.” — Mark Dubowitz, CEO

“During President Trump’s first term, Qatar signed an agreement pledging to fight terror finance in lockstep with the United States. Even before the Shin Bet released its report, there was reason to suspect that Doha wasn’t keeping its end of the bargain. If anything, the report should prompt Congress to exercise increased oversight over the terror finance agreement. If Qatar wittingly funded Hamas terrorism, the Trump administration may wish to consider designating Qatar as a state sponsor of terror.” — Natalie Ecanow, Senior Research Analyst