Qatar Prime Minister: We made contact with Hamas because the USA wanted it
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdurrahman bin Qasim al-Sani [sic: al-Thani] said that they started to establish relations with Hamas at the request of the USA.
Answering the questions of US presenter and commentator Tucker Carlson at the Doha Forum, al-Sani also said that his country's connections with Hamas “always serve peace” and said that when the Palestinian organization moved its office to Qatar, “this office was only used to facilitate communication and ceasefire, to facilitate aid to Gaza.”
Al-Sani emphasized the necessity of communication between all parties to the conflict and stated that Hamas is a "non-state actor" and defended the relationship of his government with Hamas.
The Prime Minister of Qatar said, "If there is no one to talk to these non-state actors, how will we solve the problem in the end or how will we reach a solution?" He asked.
Al-Sani stated that the ceasefires, the release of hostages and the relief of suffering depend on this communication and condemned the politicians he alleged to use Qatar to "support his own narratives" or "blame other countries for what happened in Gaza".
The Qatari leader also vehemently denied the claim that aid and financial support went to Hamas, claiming that all support went to the people of Gaza in a “very transparent process in which the US is fully aware of.”
Al-Sani said that not only the current Israeli government, but also previous governments led by Netanyahu, Naftali Bennet and Yair Lapid facilitated the delivery of Qatar's aid.
The Prime Minister argued that Qatar's allegations of funding Hamas have no basis and that such allegations are “a way of spreading false information about a country that does nothing against them, but does not support its policies.”
Al-Sani said that Qatar has always focused on peace and that “this peace cannot be achieved without the participation of everyone in the region”.
The Prime Minister also praised US President Donald Trump, saying that he "took a very clear stance" after the Israeli attack on September 9, "expressing his disappointment and sadness" in the face of such an incident.
Es-Sani said, “He knows how much we helped in this process. This kind of move shocked him... At the time, we were trying to convince Hamas to sign President Trump's proposal. He made it clear to everyone that this is a red line. I think this was one of many efforts to sabotage relations between Qatar and the United States," he said.
Regarding Qatar's reason for investing and lobbying in Washington, the Prime Minister said, "To make sure that we will not be attacked. Qatar did not encourage them to go to the US and bomb this country or support this country. We have always thought about how we can ensure peace in the region," he said.
Carlson said oil-rich Qatar is accused of triggering the war by supporting Hamas, but will probably have to pay for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip as well.
Thereupon, es-Sani announced that Qatar will not take primary responsibility for this issue, which should be a multinational effort as foreseen in the Trump plan.
"We are not the ones who will write the check," the prime minister said, adding that Qatar will always help the Palestinians directly.