Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Elder of Ziyon
But the circumstances behind his release implicate Qatar as anything but an honest broker.
From what we know, his release was negotiated between the US and Qatar as a go between to Hamas. But the timing indicates that it was meant to coincide with Trump's' visit to the region.
Hamas didn't directly "gain" anything from the release. Israel did not release any more prisoners. One might argue that Hamas gained goodwill from President Trump in the hope of pressuring Israel not to go ahead with its planned major invasion of Gaza. That desire to stop Israeli action and to try to regain control of humanitarian aid certainly played a role.
But in the end, Alexander's release would never have happened if Qatar did not pressure Hamas to release him. Israeli sources and a senior Hamas official in Doha indicated the breakthrough came after Qatari pressure on Hamas.
The upshot is that Qatar can pressure Hamas to release hostages - and it chooses not to unless it gains something itself.
That is not a mediator in the same way Egypt has been a mediator. Qatar being a partner to a terror group, on it has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to under the rubric of "humanitarian aid." It has built beautiful apartments in Gaza that it knew would be used by Hamas to hand out favors to its own members.
The perception of Qatar as an honest mediator increases its prestige and influence. Its actions show otherwise.
Qatar has held the key to the hostages since October 7 and deliberately chooses not to pressure Hamas to release them unless it gains something itself.
Qatar is not an honest broker. Quite the opposite - this episode proves Qatar is an immoral actor that happily partners with Hamas and leverages Hamas terror for its own political aims.
Edan Alexander and the rest of the hostages could have been released a year ago if Qatar wanted them to be.
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