February 4, 2025 | Policy Brief
With Qatar, the Biden Administration Left Cards on the Table. Trump Should Play Them.
February 4, 2025 | Policy Brief
With Qatar, the Biden Administration Left Cards on the Table. Trump Should Play Them.
No Qataris were visible in the chilling footage of the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities that President Trump saw this week for the first time. But figuratively, they were right there.
Qatar is not an innocent bystander to Hamas’s October 7 massacre. The emirate provides Hamas with political and financial backing and amplifies Hamas propaganda on state-owned Al Jazeera. Doha’s loyalty to Hamas did not subside after the terrorist group murdered, raped, and kidnapped its way through southern Israel.
Hamas established a political office in Doha in 2012. Qatari officials say the office opened following “a request from Washington to establish indirect lines of communication with Hamas.” In November 2023, a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry maintained that Doha had “no reason to close” the office if it could facilitate diplomacy. After a year of failed Gaza ceasefire negotiations, the Biden administration reportedly told Qatar in November 2024 that Hamas’s presence in the emirate was “no longer acceptable.” However, the administration did not provide a deadline, nor did Qatari officials signal plans to permanently shutter Hamas’s Doha office.
Qatar and Hamas: A Decades-Old Relationship
Qatar’s former emir was the first world leader to visit Gaza after Hamas seized the enclave in 2007. While in Gaza, the emir pledged $400 million for civil projects in the strip. Doha has since showered Hamas-run Gaza with over one billion dollars, including $360 million in annual support since 2021. Qatar’s aid helped pay for electricity, subsidize government salaries, and underwrite other development projects. However, Hamas has long collected kickbacks from salaries and other aid that flows into Gaza, suggesting that at least some Qatari cash made its way into Hamas’s coffers. Former Israeli national security advisor Eyal Hulata previously revealed that Qatar had sent money to Hamas fighters.
Qatar certainly puts its money where its mouth is: Doha held “Israel alone responsible” for Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the subsequent war, later condemning Israel for “barbaric and heinous and extensive” violations of “human values, international charters and norms” while failing to address Hamas’s atrocities. Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh received an honorable burial in Qatar following his assassination in Tehran on July 31, 2024.
Meanwhile, Qatari officials continue to gaslight the West by promoting themselves as good-faith international partners. A Qatari diplomat recently remarked that the Qatari emir deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in brokering the Gaza ceasefire.
The Biden Administration Failed to Hold Qatar Accountable
Qatar enjoys a close relationship with the United States, lending Washington leverage that the Biden administration could have exercised to compel Doha to jettison Hamas leaders and secure a hostage deal. Instead, the Biden administration praised Qatar for its diplomatic services and even rewarded the emirate with admittance to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.
A Qatar Agenda for President Trump
Stakeholders are widely crediting President Trump with securing the Gaza ceasefire deal in January. The Israel Democracy Institute recently published a poll that found that 74 percent of Israeli Jews and 64 percent of Israeli Arabs believe Trump is correct “in saying that the ceasefire agreement and the release of the hostages were achieved thanks to his intervention.”
Now, President Trump should go further and hold Qatar accountable for enabling Hamas. First, the Trump administration should force Qatar to sever ties with Hamas. That means shuttering Hamas’s Doha office, extraditing senior Hamas leaders, and removing Hamas from Qatar’s payroll. Next, President Trump should consider revoking Qatar’s Major Non-NATO Ally status. If Qatar doesn’t take sufficient action against Hamas and its funders, Trump may wish to designate Qatar as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
Finally, the Trump administration must enforce two outstanding action items. In 2017, Doha pledged to combat terror finance in partnership with the United States. The Trump administration should follow up on that memorandum of understanding and ensure that Qatar makes good on its commitments. Second, Qatar-owned Al Jazeera continues to flout U.S. law by failing to register as a foreign agent. The Trump administration must force Al Jazeera to comply.
Natalie Ecanow is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Natalie and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Natalie on X @NatalieEcanow. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.