Qatar linked to Israel attack
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says the patron of Hamas is largely responsible for the massacre of Israelis
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Daily TribuneFinance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says the patron of Hamas is largely responsible for the massacre of Israelis
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Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday accused Qatar, a key mediator in efforts to free its hostages in Gaza, of being responsible for the 7 October Palestinian terrorists’ attack on his country.
His comments came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was caught on tape allegedly telling hostages’ families this week that Qatar’s mediation was “problematic” when it came to resolving the hostage crisis.
Qatar is the “patron of Hamas and is largely responsible for the massacre committed by Hamas of Israeli citizens,” Smotrich said on X.
“Qatar is a country that supports terrorism and finances terrorism,” he added.
Netanyahu was allegedly caught on tape blaming Qatar for financing Hamas terrorist group, which also rules Gaza, and said he was upset at a United States decision to extend the presence of a military base in the Gulf state, according to Israeli news outlet Channel 12.
“You don’t hear me thanking Qatar... who are essentially no different from the United Nations or Red Cross, and even more problematic. I have no illusions with regards to them,” Netanyahu purportedly says in a recording obtained by Channel 12.
“They have the means to put pressure (on Hamas). And why? Because they finance them,” he continues, adding that he was “very angry” at Washington’s decision to renew its base agreement with Qatar.
In a statement posted on X, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said his country was “appalled by the alleged remarks attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister.”
Qatar is still involved in talks aimed at securing a new hostage deal, and Ansari said Netanyahu’s remarks were detrimental to those efforts.
“If the reported remarks are found to be true, the Israeli PM would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process, for reasons that appear to serve his political career instead of prioritizing saving innocent lives, including Israeli hostages,” the statement said.
It added that Netanyahu should focus on freeing the hostages rather than “concerning himself with Qatar’s strategic relations with the United States.”
Qatar is home to the regional headquarters of the Pentagon’s Central Command at the al-Udeid Air Base, and permits regular shore visits by US naval vessels patrolling the Gulf region.
Smotrich accused Western governments of being “hypocritical” in maintaining close relations with Doha.
“The West can and should exert much stronger leverage on it and bring about the release of the hostages immediately,” he said.
The Hamas attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on Israeli figures.
The terrorists, who targeted communities in southern Israel, also abducted about 250 hostages during the attack.
Some 132 of them are still held captive in Gaza, including 28 bodies of hostages believed to have been killed, according to an AFP tally based on figures provided by Israeli officials.
