Photo: Hatem Moussa, AP/NTB
For several years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed Qatar to send money to the Gaza Strip and Hamas. After the terrorist attack on 7 October, many are demanding answers.
Published: 16/03/2024 22:40
For several years, Qatari officials were followed by Israeli intelligence agents into the Gaza Strip. They brought suitcases filled with millions of dollars.
In the period 2012-2018, Netanyahu allowed Qatar to send approximately 1 billion dollars to Gaza. Smallest half reached Hamas.
Israeli media now believe that this money may also have helped finance Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October.
In the aftermath of the attack, questions have been asked Israel’s motives for to allow the money transfers.
Recently, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that Israel’s motive was clear: To weaken President Mahmoud Abbas and the autonomy authority in the West Bank. The West Bank is governed by the party FatahFatahFatah is the largest of the Palestinian member organizations in the Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO. The split on the Palestinian side is seen as an obstacle on the way to a future Palestinian state.
– Yes, Hamas was financed by the Israeli government in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority, he said in a speech at the University of Valladolid in Spain.
The claim was first made publicly by Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak several decades ago.
Both Hamas and Israeli leaders have rejected it. What is the truth behind these claims?
Hamas members display their military skills during a commemoration to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the Hamas militant group, in Gaza City in 2014. Photo: Khalil Hamra, AP/NTB
Did Israel contribute to the creation of Hamas?
The founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, claimed that Israel paid him to help restore normalcy in Gaza.
– I received 240 Israeli liraliraPound or lira was the currency unit in Israel from 1952 to 1980. Now it is called shekel. every month for my teaching job and 40 lira for being a preacher in the mosque, he explained in an interview with Algeria.
Many claim that Hamas was created by Israel. This includes Avner Cohen, former head of Israel’s religious affairs in Gaza.
Hamas was formed in 1987. In its early years, Hamas was seen as a social movement dedicated to welfare, says Yaakov Perry, former head of the Shin Bet, to the BBC. But he rejects claims that Israel supported Hamas as an alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Fact
Facts about Hamas
Hamas was formed in 1987 with origins in the Muslim Brotherhood.
Ismail Haniyeh is today the Sunni Muslim movement’s political leader.
The organization’s charter originally called for the annihilation or dissolution of the state of Israel.
The charter was revised in 2017 and allows for the establishment of a temporary Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, within the borders from before the war in 1967. It also calls for the “liberation of the whole of Palestine”.
The revised charter emphasizes that Hamas will not wage war against the Jewish people, but against Zionism, which it holds responsible for the “occupation of Palestine.”
In 2006, Hamas won the elections in the Gaza Strip, but was not recognized by the outside world. The US, EU and Israel label the group a terrorist organisation.
Hamas has since been in power in Gaza, which according to the UN definition is still considered to be occupied by Israel.
Since 2007, Israel and Hamas have fought several wars.
Source: NTB
Show more The image published by Israeli media shows three suitcases filled to the brim with millions of dollars, ready to be driven into Gaza. Photo: Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation
Why would Israel fund Hamas?
The money transfers from Qatar have been an open topic in Israeli news for many years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in private meetings in 2019 as well talked to party colleagues in the Knesset about financial contributions to Hamas. There, according to Haaretz, he claimed that support for the flow of money could prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israel’s policy has largely been to view the self-governing authority as “a burden” and Hamas as “a resource”. That was said by Bezalel Smotrich, now finance minister in Netanyahu’s government, in a interview in 2015.
Critics believe the Qatari money transfers were an attempt by Netanyahu to ensure silence from Hamas.
And although Hamas could use imported goods and construction materials also for military armaments, such as the construction of tunnels, this support continued.
Netanyahu has responded to the criticism by saying that it is absurd to claim that he was trying to strengthen Hamas.
In official of the Netanyahus office claims that Israel has allowed money transfers to Gaza for humanitarian reasons.
Netanyahu is under fierce criticism from all sides in Israel after the attacks on 7 October. Photo: Uriel Sinai / AP / NTB
Has Netanyahu’s strategy against Hamas weakened his position?
Benjamin Netanyahu has been prime minister for several periods, first from 1996–1999, then from 2009–2021 and from 2022 until today. Throughout the period, he has been very skeptical of a two-state solution. Only in January this year did he give the US a clear message that he will not accept a Palestinian state.
The relationship between Hamas and Israel has been favorable to Israel’s prime minister, mean historiker Adam Raz.
– Since 2009, Netanyahu has pursued a policy that strengthened Hamas, claims Raz.
The purpose of this policy was to prevent a Palestinian state. Political commentator Tal Schneider writes in Times of Israel.
Netanyahu is now under fierce criticism from all sides in Israel. Two former prime ministers in Israel have asked him to resign immediately.
– This is a big failure, according to Yaakov Amidror. He was former security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Aftenposten has previously referred to the attacks on 7 October as the intelligence fiasco of all time.
– Where does Hamas get its money from today?
There are divided opinions among Israelis that their own politicians have contributed to Hamas’s growth. Many blame Iran.
According to a 2020 US State Department report, Iran provides approx 100 million US dollars annually to Palestinian militant groups. By 2023, Iran had increased its funding to 350 million a year, says an Israeli security source The Economist.
2024-03-16 21:40:04
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