Prime Minister Qatar Denies Allegations Of Funding Hamas

JAKARTA - Qatar's prime minister on Sunday said Doha's accusations of funding Hamas were false, adding they would not suffer any losses as a result of the Israeli attack.

Speaking in an interview with US commentator Tucker Carlson at the 2025 Doha Forum, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani revealed that Qatar's involvement with Hamas began more than a decade ago at Washington's request to facilitate mediation and ceasefire lines.

"The beginning of relations with Hamas began more than 10 years ago at the request of the United States," he said, quoted by the Daily Sabah (8/12).

The Hamas office in Doha, he added, was "only used for communications and facilitating ceasefires, as well as facilitating aid to Gaza."

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said Qatar's claim to fund Hamas was baseless and ignored the layered surveillance structure governing the transfer of aid.

"Today, when they claim that this is Qatar's funding for Hamas, it's baseless," he stressed.

"All of our aid was distributed to Gaza, to the people, and through a very transparent process fully realized by the United States," added Sheikh Mohammed.

He further said the Israeli government and their security agencies had successively approved and coordinated aid deliveries to Gaza.

He said the political attack targeting Qatar overturned its role as a mediator trying to ease humanitarian suffering and brokered the ceasefire.

"We have witnessed many attempts that have taken place over the years based on disinformation and the spread of lies as well as false information about Qatar to undermine relations between Qatar and the United States."

In addition, Sheikh Mohammed stressed that Qatar would continue humanitarian support for Palestine but would not pay to rebuild the damage caused by Israeli military operations.

"We will continue to support the Palestinian people. We will do whatever it takes to ease their suffering, but we are not the party who will write checks to rebuild what others destroyed," he said.

"Basically that's our position. However, we will also not let Palestinians drive; they are not assisted, or not funded," he said.

The ceasefire, mediated by Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar, and supported by the United States, came into effect on October 10, halting Israel's two-year war which has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 171,000 others since October 2023.