Qatar's role in Israel-Hamas war: Brokering peace or fuelling conflict?

The ongoing Israel-Hamas war has passed thirty days since its tragic beginning on 7 October 2023 which witnessed a sinister unleashing of violence by the Hamas killing 1,400 and taking more than 200 as hostages. This gruesome attack has been responded to with a retaliatory offensive by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The IDF retaliation to eliminate Hamas makes civilians in Gaza collateral. The UN resolution called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities” in Gaza. Much to the chagrin of many, the global fora failed to condemn the 7 October Hamas-orchestrated massacre. This contradiction keeps the world divided on the present imbroglio. However, there is no denial of the fact that innocent civilians from both sides lose their lives because of the Israel-Hamas War. Knowing Hamas’ demonstrative hostility towards Jews, there seems no solution to this protracted conflict. Now, there is a growing demand for an immediate ceasefire. The question, therefore, arises who will broker this negotiation of releasing the hostages from the Hamas captivity?  

The only name that comes to everyone’s imagination is Qatar. Qatar’s duplicity and hypocrisy are incomparable.

The US and Iran ran to Qatar for possible negotiations with Hamas for both a ceasefire and the release of hostages. All eyes are on Qatar because it has emerged over a decade or so as a broker between opposing parties. The notable cases include Ukraine and Russia, the US and Taliban, the US and Iran and Hamas and Israel. The Hamas’ top leadership stays in Doha in a luxury hotel and plans the forthcoming tunnel war with the IDF. Qatar funnels money to Gaza in the guise of humanitarian efforts which Hamas uses for terrorism, intricate tunnel building and weapon stockpiling for its war against Israel. To assume that Qatar had no inkling of the 7 October attack by Hamas whose leadership enjoys the best facilities to zero in on Israel’s doomsday at Doha is to feign ignorance. These circumstances present the impression that Doha had some sense of what was imminent but didn’t share the intel with Israel for the obvious reason that bordered on an overwhelming sense of antisemitism. This shifts the spotlight on Qatar as to why it does what it does.

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Iran’s role in bankrolling Hamas was not a secret. It is open and as clear as daylight. What is murkier is Qatar’s role. It has crafted an image globally as pro-western and different from the theocratic Arab states through its soft power mechanisms and a global television network Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera is critical about everything that happens elsewhere but it goes hypocritically ultra-soft when it comes to Hamas and other terrorist outfits in the region and their ideological affiliations. The US has gone overboard in declaring Qatar a major non-NATO ally and has conferred on it the role of a broker-in-chief. With this layer of privilege and distinction, Qatar does everything it can do even to the extent of funding terror groups in West Asia and elsewhere.

Its deep camaraderie with Al Qaeda, Houthi, Hamas, etc is not a guarded secret. Its open support of the radical Islamists and suspicious activities with intentions more diabolic in West Asia invited ire from its Gulf neighbours which imposed diplomatic isolation and economic blockade on Qatar in 2017. It continued for four years until it was finally lifted in 2021. Against these restrictive actions against Qatar, the US came to its immediate rescue and made trade deals to give Doha some respite from the regional pressures. This brings the question as to why the US handles Qatar so softly.

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The US also has a very powerful military base in Qatar namely the Al-Udeid Base. It needs Qatar to secure its presence in West Asia knowing its volatility, complexity, shifting geopolitics and energy resources. This compulsion of the US has been most effectively used by Qatar to maximise its importance in the region and beyond. Its aspiration is also to become an impactful leader of the Islamic world among a host of competing others that include Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Its all-weather partnership with the US has given it the necessary immunity against the Arab Spring in 2011 that championed the idea of democracy and regime change in the Arab world. The regime change policy did not affect Qatar, its quota of kingship, autocracy and despotism whereas this historical churn dented some of the Arab states with irreparability. It enjoyed and continues to enjoy protectionism from the US. Therefore, its ambition and appetite for power have increased exponentially over a few decades despite being a very small country equal to the land size of the Indian state Tripura. Its population is just 2.7 million and GDP per capita is $235 billion. Its economy depends on the export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). It has money but no power and is geographically sandwiched between two major powers in the region Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Qatar uses its soft power strength and American partnership to guard against regional and international opposition. It deploys cunning, deception and Machiavellian modalities to rise to power position. For this, it does what it should and also what it shouldn’t. It has built a sanctuary for the radical groups and the notable instances include its platforming of Hamas and Al Qaeda. It has taken up the US’s proxy role to rush to the places and people where the latter does not qualify for any admittance to tread. This brings the major question of whether the US uses Qatar for its relevance and effectiveness in the shifting geopolitics of West Asia or whether the latter uses the former to secure a seat at the global diplomatic high table. The go-to role that Qatar has occupied in striking deals with antithetical parties will experience a litmus test in the current Israel-Hamas war. The irony is Doha was unequivocal in its condemnation of Israel on the 7 October incident whereas it felt no moral urgency to deride Hamas. The same Doha has been given the responsibility of brokering with Hamas for the hostage crisis.

This suggests how little this brokering process will help Israel. It is equally paradoxical to notice that the sponsor of the conflict is going to resolve it. Israel in the past has given Doha the space for a partnership for trade and related activities but the latter holds no sense of commitment in securing Tel Aviv’s interest. It has on the contrary not done anything that helps Israel in a significant way. This may have been Israel’s compulsion because the US has a definitive say in Israel’s matter. However, the role of a broker that Qatar has taken up with its shady track records has bagged praise in some quarters but from several other quarters, there has emerged serious doubts about its double dealing in the past and now. This time Doha’s one solution to all crises through diplomacy formula may not work. The scale of horror that was unleashed by Hamas on Israel on 07 October does not seem to go unpunished. Of course, the hostage crisis is a major bottleneck that the IDF is going to experience.

Dr Jajati K Pattnaik is an Associate Professor at the Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Dr Chandan K Panda is an Assistant Professor at Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar. Views expressed are personal.

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