Qatar has asked Hamas to stop any actions that make the Gulf state look like a nation that provides a safe haven for the group’s terrorist activities, a senior official in Hamas told Breitbart Jerusalem.
According to the official, Qatar’s request included a demand to cease all activity in the country that is meant to harm Israel’s security. The request was detailed, said the source, and added that Hamas must desist from initiating any activity that will produce attacks.
The Qatari request joins a similar one from Turkey that was made several months ago as part of that country’s rapprochement deal with Israel. As a result, a Hamas official and member of the organization’s politburo, Salah Alarouri, who Israel has accused of funding and directing attacks against Israeli targets, left Turkey.
Hamas released an official statement denying that Qatar gave the organization a list of officials and other Hamas members who should be expelled from the country.
The source in Hamas confirmed the denial and said that the request was reduced only to stopping actions that would lead to attacks against Israel. “We understand the Qatari request,” said the source.
“Qatar is asking that Hamas not become a stimulant for external pressure at an hour when Qatar’s enemies are trying to accuse her of supporting and funding terrorist actions and that she is a political patron of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The source said the request was received during a meeting between official Qatari representatives and Hamas’ leadership in Qatar.
According to the source, Hamas’ response was affirmative: “We told our brothers in Qatar that we never initiated actions against the occupation from Qatari territory and that our actions against the occupation are carried out only in the land of Palestine and accusations that members and leaders of Hamas abroad are involved in the creation and initiation of military infrastructure are lies. We respect the sovereignty of every country in the world, and of course the countries that host us.”
On Saturday, the Lebanese Almayadeen television station associated with Iran and Hezbollah reported that Qatar gave Hamas a list of its leaders and other members that should leave the country.
According to the report, the main names on the Qatari list include senior figures in the organization living in Qatar and those responsible for coordination with members and officials of the organization in the West Bank. According to the report, the list was preliminary and the goal of Qatar’s request was to shore up U.S. support for Qatar in case of an escalation in the crisis between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the Qatari fear that Saudi Arabia will support a coup in Qatar against the current leader, Sheikh Tamim Althani.
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