Israel helped facilitate nearly $2 billion in Qatari payments to Gaza over more than a decade and urged Doha to maintain the funding, even as Israeli officials publicly accused the country of financing Hamas, Time Magazine reported on Sunday, citing official correspondence and testimony from senior Israeli, US, and Arab officials.
Qatari payments to Gaza, long a source of controversy, came under renewed scrutiny after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Qatar has denied that the funds were intended for Hamas and has argued that Israel was responsible for any money that reached the group, as West Jerusalem oversaw the aid mechanism.
According to Time, Israel’s role went beyond simply allowing Qatar to send aid to Gaza. Israeli officials reportedly determined who received the money, facilitated cash deliveries into the enclave, and pressed Doha to keep the payments flowing.
The report highlights a contradiction between Israeli officials’ public accusations that Qatar was financing Hamas and their private requests for Doha to continue the payments. The discrepancy reportedly angered Qatari officials, according to source in the first administration of US President Donald Trump as cited by Time.
The publication also details how Israel facilitated the payments, including cash deliveries to Gaza in suitcases and a UN-backed payment mechanism. The magazine cited a 2020 letter in which then-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen thanked Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the assistance. Two weeks before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, then-Mossad chief David Barnea reportedly traveled to Doha and asked Qatar to renew the funding for another two months.
By 2018, Qatar had sent roughly $1.1 billion to Gaza, according to an analysis provided to Israeli ministers. The funds covered humanitarian assistance, fuel, and government salaries. Under the arrangement, Qatar paid for fuel and electricity purchased from Israel, financed projects through the UN, and provided monthly $100 payments to some of Gaza’s poorest families, distributed by the World Food Programme after Israeli authorities vetted recipients.
Netanyahu defended the policy as necessary to avert a humanitarian crisis and maintain essential services in Gaza, the magazine noted. The PM’s office has declined to comment on the latest findings.
Qatar told Time that all its assistance was intended for Palestinian civilians and delivered through mechanisms coordinated with Israel and international partners. At the same time, Doha argued that Israel bore responsibility if any funds reached Hamas because it had overseen delivery and created the mechanism.
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