Pentagon on Hamas Leadership Living in Qatar: We Work with Qatar, They’re an Ally on Hostages

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Pentagon Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh responded to questions on Qatar allowing Hamas leadership to live in the country by stating that “we work with Qatar on a range of issues. They are continuing to be an ally here in working to ensure that hostages are released. We support that, and I’ll just leave it at that.”

Co-host Dana Perino asked, “One of the things that’s been happening is that Hamas has been talking to Qatar, in order to, I guess, to figure out a way to decide which hostages are going to be released two by two. But the main leadership of Hamas lives in luxury in Qatar, in Doha. Is there any reason that the Pentagon feels that Qatar shouldn’t be declared a state sponsor of terror if Hamas leadership is allowed to continue to live there?”

Singh responded, “Look, we are encouraged by the conversations that continue to happen with hostages being released. You saw two Americans over the weekend, and then two more just, I believe, yesterday. We have partners and allies in the region that are continuing to work to pressure Hamas to release these hostages. But, again, these hostages should never be held hostage in the first place.”

Perino then asked, “But what about Qatar?”

Singh answered, “Again, we work with Qatar on a range of issues. They are continuing to be an ally here in working to ensure that hostages are released. We support that, and I’ll just leave it at that.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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