QATAR AND THE ICRC MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR HAMAS’ TERROR
By: Joseph Puder
Friday, December 1, 2023
ITAI's WEEKLY MIDDLE EAST REPORT
Qatar is negotiating while keeping Israel in the dark as to the condition of the hostages and the International Committee of the Red Cross is not pressing Qatar or Hamas as to the condition and whereabouts of the hostages.
There are two entities that must be accountable to the United States (US) if not to Israel when considering the plight of the Israeli hostages in Gaza. The two entities are the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the State of Qatar. More than fifty days have passed since the Gaza imprisonment of the American-Israeli abductees by Hamas and, neither the ICRC nor the Qataris have informed the Biden administration of their condition nor have they secured their release.
The US was quick to rush humanitarian aid to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, and the ICRC was right on the spot handling the aid. At the same time, neither the Biden administration nor the ICRC have insisted on conditioning the massive aid to Gaza on visiting the Israeli hostages to determine if they are still alive and verifying their state of health. It is inconceivable that the ICRC cannot do more to check on the kidnapped Israelis. The ICRC needs to place much more pressure on Hamas to allow its representatives to visit the Israelis. The US, for its part, must pressure the Qataris who have tremendous leverage over Hamas to allow neutrals to visit the abductees.
According to the ICRC, in their own words, “Our position is clear: holding hostages is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and must be released immediately. We will persist in working for the benefit of all the hostages and their families.” The civilians, mostly Israeli, including babies, young children, women, and the elderly were taken from their homes by force and dragged to the Gaza tunnel, in gross violation of international humanitarian law.
Reports have been coming in as to the severe weight losses of the hostages during their 50+ days in captivity. Considering that trucks are rolling in every day with provisions, why is it the hostages lived on measly portions of rice and a piece of pita bread?
The Biden administration has leverage over the Qatari government since the US forces in this Gulf state protects the Qatari royals whose native population is only around 300,000 while over two million others are foreigners. The US at the same time has used Doha, Qatar’s capital, to negotiate with the Afghani Taliban, and mostly off the record with Hamas leaders based in Qatar.
Qatar provides Hamas with approximately $1billion a year, and its mouthpiece, Al-Jazeera, is the dominant medium in Gaza, and a weapon against Israel. The Qataris are not exactly fair mediators. They support Hamas because ideologically they identify with the Muslim Brotherhood movement, of which Hamas is part of. The Muslim Brotherhood movement originated in Egypt. Erdogan’s Turkey is another member and supporter of the radical Muslim Brotherhood club. Qatar was also involved in funding various jihadist groups in Syria.
The Associated Press (AP) reported on May 13, 2022, that “The family of Steven Sotloff alleged in a federal lawsuit that prominent Qatari institutions wired $800,000 to an Islamic State ‘judge’ who ordered the murder of Sotloff and another American journalist, James Foley <https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-religion-syria-lawsuits-middle-east-75e15fcfc4b2c0dcdd18ff16e2556a20> . The two were beheaded in Syria in 2014, their killing filmed and published in grisly propaganda videos.” Hamas, which shares the same jihadist ideology as the Islamic State and likewise aired the grisly propaganda videos of beheading Israeli babies and raping of young girls, is also funded by the Qatari regime.
Qatar, by virtue of its Hamas funding and hosting its leadership, is second only to Iran in being responsible for the gruesome butchery committed on 1,200 Israeli citizens, and the abduction of 240, on October 7, 2023. Israeli leaders mustn’t therefore delude themselves with another fantasy conception that Qatar must be included in a dialogue over the future of the Gaza Strip.
The US and Israel must hold Qatar accountable for enabling Hamas’s reign of terror. The US should also reconsider its partnership with a nation like Qatar which harbors and propagates terror groups. Shortly after the unprovoked terror attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement that blamed Israel for Hamas’s attack.
The Qatari regime is using the producers, journalists, and commentators on its flagship Arabic network Al-Jazeera TV to engage in antisemitism, anti-Americanism, and Islamism. Its leader, the Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, speaking at the UN General Assembly last September, accused Israel of the “Judaization of Jerusalem.” These are not statements of a neutral mediator.
Clearly, no one should be surprised with the Qataris playing both ends of the fence. The real question is why successive US administrations of both parties let them get away with it.