Smotrich and Netanyahu have accused Qatar of financing Hamas, a claim the Gulf state has repeatedly denied.
The leader of Israel’s National Religious Zionism party has made unsubstantiated claims against Qatar, accusing the Gulf State of sponsoring terrorism and being responsible for the attacks against Israelis on October 7.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s Finance Minister, took to X on Thursday to charge Qatar with being a country that “supports terrorism and finances terrorism,” claiming that it “is the patron of Hamas and is largely responsible for the massacre committed by Hamas of Israeli citizens.”
He further said that Qatar will have no involvement in Gaza’s post-Israeli onslaught future.
The ultra-far-right leader’s accusations were in response to an earlier X post from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari.
The Qatari official said on Wednesday that his nation was “appalled” by remarks from Israel’s Prime Minister – denouncing Qatar’s mediation efforts as being “problematic.”
In a leaked recording, Benjamin Netanyahu was heard telling the families of captives being held in Gaza that, “Qatar, from my point of view, is no different in essence than the United Nations… and the Red Cross, [Qatar] is even more problematic”.
Like Smotrich, Netanyahu also said Qatar is a financier of Hamas.
However, Qatar has repeatedly clarified that its foreign mediation policy is such that it engages with all sides to ensure peace and stability in the region.
While being “unsurprised,” Al Ansari said such comments were harmful to efforts geared towards saving innocent lives.
“If the reported remarks are found to be true, the Israeli PM would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process, for reasons that appear to serve his political career instead of prioritizing saving innocent lives, including Israeli hostages,” he said.
On Tuesday, Al Ansari addressed the challenges Qatar’s mediatory initiatives face, including unhelpful rhetoric from Israel and no let up in its onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Despite these challenges, he affirmed during a media briefing in Doha that, “Mediation efforts between the Palestinians and Israel are still ongoing and will not stop, regardless of the circumstances on the ground.”
Amid Israel’s brutal bombardment of Gaza, Qatar, in cooperation with Egypt, brokered a temporary ceasefire from November 24 till December 1.
This saw the release of at least 110 Israeli and foreign captives from Gaza, as well as 240 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.
It is estimated that 136 Israeli captives are currently held in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Despite this, Israel continues to bombard the enclave with continuous air, land and sea offensives.
This violent campaign is thought to have killed at least 25,700 Palestinians since October 7 and left a further 63,740 injured.
