Qatar has told the leaders of Hamas to leave the country where they have enjoyed a luxurious exile for many years, just days after President-elect Donald Trump won the U.S. election, according to reports in the Israeli media.
Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, has been able to protect many of its leaders because they have taken refuge in Qatar and Turkey, both of whom are U.S. allies. Turkey is a member of NATO, while the Biden-Harris administration declared Qatar a major non-NATO ally, despite its ongoing support for Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
The Biden-Harris administration had pressured Qatar to evict Hamas. But Trump’s election seemed to be the trigger.
The Jerusalem Post reported Friday:
Qatar has agreed to remove Hamas from its territory after Hamas refused to conduct genuine hostage, ceasefire negotiations, an American source told Israeli state broadcaster, KAN on Saturday morning.
This latest update follows a senior American administration official telling Reuters on Friday that the US has told Qatar that the presence of Hamas in Doha is no longer acceptable in the weeks since the Palestinian terror group rejected the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal.
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Qatar then made the demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago, the official said. Washington has been in touch with Qatar over when to close the political office of Hamas, and it told Doha that now was the time following the group’s rejection of the recent proposal.
Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in late July while attending the inauguration of new Iranian president in Tehran, under heavy protection. Israel was blamed for the attack but has not yet officially claimed responsibility.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
