DOHA: Qatar on Wednesday rebuffed what it said were “false accusations” by Israel’s domestic security agency attributing funds from the Gulf state to an increase in Hamas’s military strength before its unprecedented October 7 2023 attack.
“False accusations made by the Shin Bet security agency linking Qatari aid to the October 7 attack are yet another example of deflection driven by self-interest and self-preservation in Israeli politics,” Qatar’s International Media Office said in a statement.
The security agency published findings from an internal probe on Tuesday acknowledging its own failings in preventing the over-border attack from Gaza on southern Israel which sparked 15 months of war in the Palestinian territory.
The Shin Bet report also said “the influx of Qatari funds and their transfer to the military wing” was one of the “main reasons for the strengthening of Hamas that allowed it to launch the attack,” according to its executive summary.
“It is well known within Israel and internationally that all aid sent from Qatar to Gaza was transferred with the full knowledge, support, and supervision of the current and previous Israeli administrations and their security agencies — including the Shin Bet,” the Qatari statement said.
“No aid has ever been delivered to Hamas’s political or military wing,” it added.
Qatar has hosted Hamas’s political office since 2012, with the blessing of the United States, but also fuelling accusations that it supports the Palestinian group, which Doha has always denied.
The gas-rich Gulf state played a key role in securing a fragile truce in Gaza, mediating between Hamas and Israel alongside the United States and Egypt.
Since the deal’s first phase ended at the weekend, after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the parties have hit an impasse over the truce’s continuation.
“At this critical juncture, the Shin Bet and other Israeli security agencies should focus on saving the remaining hostages and finding a solution that ensures long-term regional security, rather than resorting to diversionary tactics,” the Qatari statement said.
“Claims that Qatari aid went to Hamas are entirely false and serve as evidence that the accusers are intent on prolonging the war,” it added.
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, most of them civilians, while Israel’s military retaliation in Gaza has killed at least 48,405 people, also mostly civilians, data from both sides show.
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