Researcher: Hamas leaders may head to Turkey if they leave Qatar

There have been many reports that the United States is pressuring Qatar to ease the terms of negotiations with Israel for Hamas leaders (who are in Doha), and information has indicated that Qatar is considering the possibility of closing Hamas’ office in Doha.

Hani Al-Jamal, a researcher in political and regional affairs, considered that the presence of Hamas in Qatar was an American desire and an American coordination, which forced Qatar to receive Hamas leaders just as it received Taliban leaders.

Hani Al-Jamal pointed out that Qatar was working on two parts, not only opening offices for Hamas, but sending about 30 million dollars a month to Hamas, via Israel, and then spending on Hamas leaders and arming them in one way or another. All of these matters were with the knowledge of the American administration and under its sponsorship and implementation from Israel.

Regarding the reasons for the American pressure on Doha, the researcher explained: “In light of what happened after last October 7 and the escalation of events in this way in the Gaza Strip, there was movement by the Egyptian and Qatari mediators in this regard, and thus the pace of events in the Strip escalated, and there was a rejection of Hamas.” “By moving in accordance with Israeli desires after the October 7 attacks.”

Hani Al-Gamal added: “Therefore, there was great American pressure on Doha, and there were Israeli accusations against Qatar that it was not an honest mediator. The Israeli and American pressure on Qatar was aimed at making Hamas abandon its demands, which is what happened recently, as Hamas yielded to the pressure and accepted the Egyptian card.”

The researcher in political and regional affairs believes that “there is more than one destination after Hamas leaves Qatar. The first destination is Jordan, which is most attached to Palestine. The second destination is Algeria, which greatly supports the Palestinian cause. The third destination may be Yemen, where the Houthis are present, where Iran has influence there, and the fourth destination may be Turkey for several reasons, the first of which is the large and close relations between Hamas and Ankara, as Hamas leaders have significant commercial transactions in this country, and Hamas and Erdogan also belong to the same political trend, which is the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Hani Al-Jamal sees a change in roles between Turkey and Qatar as: “It is not clear now, because Qatar has not abandoned its role as a mediator yet.” The researcher ruled out that: “The change in roles will be quick, and even if it happens, there will be no radical change.” However, the negotiating mechanisms possessed by Turkey may be stronger than those possessed by Qatar, as Washington is unable to exert pressure on Ankara because the latter has another outlet towards Moscow.”

However, Hani Al-Jamal, researcher in political and regional affairs, believes that the United States: “will not abandon Qatar, but will put specific pressure on it in order to put pressure on Hamas and its acceptance of the new conditions, which revolve around removing Hamas leaders from the Gaza Strip.”

Hani Al-Jamal stressed that there will be: “There will be a demographic and geopolitical change in the region with the Israeli presence in Gaza, without regard to the rights of the Palestinians, and the transformation of the Gaza Strip into an independent region far from the Palestinian entity by establishing a new reality, especially after Washington inaugurated a floating sea dock, which is considered one of the windows of displacement.” Voluntary aid for the Palestinians, especially since this dock will contribute to giving Israel the upper hand by controlling the humanitarian aid coming to the Gaza Strip, thus creating an entity like Blackwater, as happened in Iraq, and thus displacing the Palestinian state.”

T/ Satt.

ANHA