{"id":2668,"date":"2025-09-10T00:36:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T00:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/10\/why-does-qatar-host-hamass-political-office\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T00:36:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T00:36:49","slug":"why-does-qatar-host-hamass-political-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/10\/why-does-qatar-host-hamass-political-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Why does Qatar host Hamas\u2019s political office?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Qatar has hosted Hamas\u2019s political office since 2012, after what Qatari officials say were requests from the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The Gulf nation of Qatar has long served as a mediator, both in the Middle East and further afield. The country has good relations with nations that oppose each other, such as the United States and Iran, and therefore serves as a location where conversations can happen between adversaries.<\/p>\n<p>The presence of many leaders from the Palestinian group Hamas in Doha has meant that the city has become a base for negotiations to end Israel\u2019s war on Gaza and secure the release of Israeli captives held in the enclave.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/9\/israel-attacks-hamas-leadership-in-qatar-all-to-know\">Israel attacks Hamas leadership in Qatar: All to know<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/9\/analysis-israel-leaps-over-red-lines-in-attack-on-qatari-capital-doha\">Analysis: Israel leaps over red lines in attack on Qatari capital Doha<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/9\/white-house-says-trump-notified-qatar-ahead-of-israeli-strike-on-hamas\">Qatar denies White House claim Trump sent warning before Israel\u2019s attack<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>But that looks like it is in jeopardy following <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/liveblog\/2025\/9\/9\/live-israel-pounds-gaza-city-as-netanyahu-tells-residents-to-leave-now\">Israel\u2019s attack on several Hamas leaders<\/a> in Doha on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Why are those leaders based in Qatar? And what is Qatar\u2019s relationship with the Palestinian movement? Let\u2019s take a closer look:<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"when-did-hamas-first-open-a-political-office-in-qatar\">When did Hamas first open a political office in Qatar?<\/h2>\n<p>Hamas first opened its political office in Qatar in 2012, after leaders \u2013 including Khaled Meshaal \u2013 left Syria a year after the war in that country began.<\/p>\n<p>Qatari officials have repeatedly said that the decision to host the Hamas leadership came after a request from the United States. In a 2023 opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the Qatari ambassador to the US, Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani, said that Washington wanted the office \u201cto establish indirect lines of communication with Hamas\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"who-are-the-hamas-political-leaders-who-have-been-based-there\">Who are the Hamas political leaders who have been based there?<\/h2>\n<p>Various senior Hamas leaders are based in Qatar or have been based there as a result of the opening of the Hamas office.<\/p>\n<p>The previously mentioned Meshaal, who is the former head of Hamas\u2019s political bureau and who himself survived a 1997 Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan, moved to Qatar in 2012 and has been based there since.<\/p>\n<p>Ismail Haniyeh, who succeeded Meshaal as political leader and was previously the Palestinian prime minister, was also based in Qatar from 2017, the year he left Gaza to become political leader. Haniyeh was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/8\/3\/haniyeh-killed-by-short-range-projectile-fired-from-outside-home-irgc\">assassinated by Israel<\/a> in the Iranian capital Tehran in July 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Other leaders based in Qatar include Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the Hamas leadership council, and Mousa Abu Marzouk.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why-does-qatar-host-hamas\">Why does Qatar host Hamas?<\/h2>\n<p>Qatar is considered one of the most important mediators in the region and internationally, making it an influential player.<\/p>\n<p>The country provided financial aid to Gaza \u2013 which has been under some form of blockade by Israel since 2007 \u2013 for years, and also is a leading champion of the Palestinian cause.<\/p>\n<p>Providing a political base for Hamas is the result of a combination of these two factors.<\/p>\n<p>In his WSJ opinion piece, Qatar\u2019s Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani justified the presence of the Hamas office as it had \u201cfrequently been used in mediation efforts, helping to de-escalate conflicts in Israel and the Palestinian territories\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe presence of the Hamas office shouldn\u2019t be confused with endorsement but rather establishes an important channel for indirect communication,\u201d Al Thani said.<\/p>\n<p>Last year,\u00a0 Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani suggested that Qatar may look to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/4\/17\/qatar-says-gaza-ceasefire-talks-at-delicate-phase\">re-evaluate its mediation role<\/a>, because some parties had used the mediation for \u201cnarrow political interest\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-else-does-qatar-host\">What else does Qatar host?<\/h2>\n<p>The acknowledgment of Qatar as a mediator and a safe base for political groups from around the world has led to its capital becoming host to a number of different international players.<\/p>\n<p>A number of Arab political figures relocated to Qatar, most notably in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from that, Qatar hosted the Taliban\u2019s political office from 2013 onwards as it fought against the US and the former Afghan government. The Taliban political office was also opened at the request of the US to provide a venue for peace talks.<\/p>\n<p>And of course, Qatar hosts the US \u2013 in the form of Washington\u2019s biggest military base in the Middle East, Al Udeid airbase.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Qatar has hosted Hamas\u2019s political office since 2012, after what Qatari officials say were requests from the United States. The Gulf nation of Qatar has long served as a mediator, both in the Middle East and further afield. The country has good relations with nations that oppose each other, such as the United States and &#8230; <a title=\"Why does Qatar host Hamas\u2019s political office?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/10\/why-does-qatar-host-hamass-political-office\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Why does Qatar host Hamas\u2019s political office?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}