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Qatar Can’t Be Allowed to Get Away With Murder After Oct. 7
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani makes statements to the media with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 13, 2023. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS
Over the past few weeks, Qatar has been in the news as a key player in the crisis that erupted following the heinous terrorist massacre perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7. It turns out that Qatar actively funds Hamas, hosts Hamas’ political leaders and headquarters in Doha, and is in regular touch with the Hamas leadership in Gaza — all of which resulted in the Qataris acting as mediators for the hostage release negotiations.
But notwithstanding Qatar’s role in helping to get Israeli and international hostages out of Hamas-ruled Gaza — which, remarkably, has already resulted in Qatar being thanked by US President Joe Biden — the question gaining traction in Washington and around the world is this: How exactly has Qatar been allowed to fund terrorists and support terror for so many years while still maintaining diplomatic, economic, and military ties with the West?
The answer will amaze and horrify you in equal measure. This week marked the first anniversary of the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The FIFA World Cup’s global appeal is vast, drawing billions of viewers. Held every four years, the tournament attracts extensive media coverage, engaging with a huge international audience which includes people who don’t typically follow soccer.
Aside from the TV audiences, millions of soccer fans fly from all over the world to see their country play “the beautiful game” in huge soccer stadiums, and the 2022 World Cup was no exception. A staggering 3.4 million spectators were there to participate in the tournament, and the 172 goals scored over four weeks of games ensured that Qatar 2022 became the highest scoring FIFA World Cup in history.
But, as was revealed before the tournament — and has also emerged in far greater detail since the tournament ended — the details of Qatar’s outlook and behavior vis-à-vis the World Cup paint a sobering picture of this tiny but powerful country — a picture that is marred by allegations of wanton bribery to ensure they were awarded hosting rights, as well as deliberate deception in environmental commitments once they were confirmed as hosts.
In particular, the stark contrast between Qatar’s proclaimed “carbon-neutral” World Cup and the reality of its execution underscores a narrative of calculated misrepresentation. And yet, by and large Qatar has gotten away with its brazen criminality and deceptions. EU officials were allegedly bribed by Qatar, World Cup host rivals were reportedly targeted by “black ops” and hacking operations, and thousands of slaves – yes, slaves! – died in the construction of the soccer stadium complex in Doha.
But in the end, despite concerns about how Qatar became hosts of this international sports behemoth, and regardless of concerns about how it misled the world regarding the event’s staggering environmental footprint, Qatar’s immense wealth has ensured that this corrupt country has got nothing to worry about and is able to navigate the global stage with impunity.
It really is that simple. Qatar’s vast financial resources play a pivotal role in shaping international perceptions of and responses to this criminal, terrorist-sponsoring state. The country’s infiltration of the global economy and strategic funding of NGOs and elite educational institutions has meant that it virtually controls the narrative on multiple fronts, and always to the advantage of evil. Only now, since Oct. 7, is there is a growing discourse around how Qatar’s substantial economic power has been leveraged to gloss over contentious issues. But so far, nothing has changed. This unacceptable situation raises critical questions about the dynamics of power and money in international relations, especially in contexts where significant global interests and reputations are at stake.
The Qatar World Cup saga is an egregious but somewhat innocuous example of the challenges in holding wealthy and powerful nations accountable. But Qatar’s role in funding Hamas — and therefore the Oct. 7 massacre — has brought the role of this bad actor under the spotlight, resulting in a significant paradigm shift. Finally, policymakers in the Western world are beginning to reexamine how these masters of deception have managed to bamboozle the world for decades, even as their limitless money funds murder, chaos, and mayhem.
Shockingly, the deception goes on. The public face of Qatar as the honorable intermediary between evil Hamas murderers and the aggrieved State of Israel belies the fact that Qatar is ruled with an iron fist by one tiny family of antisemitic thugs — the Al Thani family, one of whose most senior members, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, told a newspaper, “Imagine oil [was sold] by some Jews … what would be the price of a barrel of oil? It would be the most expensive thing in the world.”
And this week I heard from someone who maintained close ties with the Al Thanis over several years, that they told him, “We are not bigots, except when it comes to Jews — we can’t stand the Jews.” So, are these the “honest brokers” for the current crisis — as was claimed by another member of the Al Thani family, Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to the United States?
It is clear that Qatar, for all its polished sophistication and attempts to bamboozle the West to think its leaders are merely useful intermediaries with the world’s worst undesirables, is in fact as evil as those it funds. Qatar, and in particular the Al Thani family who have presided over this tiny country for decades, cannot claim innocence. Their hands are elbow-deep in the blood of the innocents murdered on Oct. 7. Every hostage still in captivity in Gaza is the direct result of Qatar’s nefarious love affair with the violent brutes who control Gaza.
After Oct. 7 there’s no longer any excuse for anyone to look the other way. Qatar must be sanctioned, its Western assets must be frozen or confiscated, and its leaders must be arrested for aiding and abetting terrorists — and for crimes against humanity. Otherwise, the world will have allowed Qatar’s leaders to get away with murder.
The post Qatar Can’t Be Allowed to Get Away With Murder After Oct. 7 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
The post Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
The post Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
The post US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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