Israel's airstrike in Doha was directed against Hamas leaders, not Qatar. There is no reason why the leaders of a terrorist organization, responsible for murdering thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, should feel safe anywhere. Pictured: Smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas leadership meeting in Qatar's capital, Doha, on September 9, 2025. (Photo by Jacqueline Penney/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)

Leaders of several Arab and Islamic countries held an emergency summit in Doha on September 15 to discuss Israel's "aggression" against Qatar. The reference was to the recent Israeli attack on senior Hamas leaders in Qatar. The summit was held at the request of Qatar, the only Gulf state that has long been providing shelter and financial and political aid to the leaders of Hamas, the Iran-backed terror group that carried out the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The assault resulted in the murder of more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and the wounding of thousands. Another 251 Israelis and foreigners were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where 48 – dead and alive – remain in Hamas's captivity.

Israel's airstrike in Doha was directed against Hamas leaders, not Qatar. There is no reason why the leaders of a terrorist organization, responsible for murdering thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, should feel safe anywhere. By choosing to harbor the Hamas leaders, Qatar should have known that the day would come when Israel would settle the score with those involved – directly and indirectly – in the October 7 massacre.

It was the October 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The war has brought death and destruction to the entire Gaza Strip. The war could have ended long ago had Hamas agreed to release the hostages, whom it should not have seized in the first place, lay down its weapons, and relinquish control over the Gaza Strip.

The Arab and Islamic heads of state, however, made no reference to the October 7 attack or Hamas's responsibility for triggering the war. They also did not see fit to call out Qatar for hosting Hamas's leaders for many years or for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood organization, whose calls for jihad (holy war) the emirate has been broadcasting for years through its Al-Jazeera television empire.

On the day of the October 7 atrocities, the leaders of Hamas, who are comfortably based in Qatar, were filmed watching the coverage of the terrorist group's invasion of southern Israel on Al-Jazeera. The Hamas leaders praised the attack on Israel as a "victory" and performed the "Prostration of Gratitude." Such a celebration could not have taken place without the approval of Qatar's rulers. Qatar's media especially Al-Jazeera, to this day, have been enthusiastically praising Hamas's attacks, as well (here, here, here and here ).

Qatar is not – and has never pretended to be – a democracy that respects and protects free speech and public freedoms. If Qatar's rulers were unhappy with the actions and presence of Hamas's leaders in their country, they would have stopped them or deported them long ago. Qatar, however, has long considered Hamas a legitimate player in the Palestinian arena. The country's rulers, the Al Thani family, have allowed the leaders and spokesmen of Hamas to lead luxurious lives in Doha and have placed Al-Jazeera at their disposal to spread their threatening and radical Islamist ideology. Much of it is based on eliminating Israel through Jihad. Were it not for Qatar's financial and political backing, Hamas would not have been able to stay in power in the Gaza Strip for the past two decades.

Notably, several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt decided in 2017 to cut their diplomatic relations with Qatar because it supports terrorism and extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. These countries issued a list of 13 demands, one of which, most prominently, was shutting down Al-Jazeera. The crisis ended in 2021 when Qatar and the Arab countries reached an agreement mediated by the US and Kuwait.

Despite the agreement, Qatar has continued its policy of supporting Hamas and promoting the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as having single-handedly promoted the failed "Arab Spring" to topple Egypt's government.

Qatar is reportedly working to create a second Arab Spring to topple Egypt's government once again.

For many Arabs in the Middle East, Al-Jazeera is the unofficial mouthpiece of Hamas. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the network has banned any criticism of Hamas.

In December 2024, even the Palestinian Authority, after accusing Al-Jazeera of broadcasting misleading reports and stoking divisions among the Palestinians, decided to ban Al-Jazeera in the West Bank.

Unsurprisingly, the final communiqué issued by the Arab-Islamic summit in Qatar condemned Israel for its "flagrant violations of international law and international legitimacy" and expressed full solidarity with Qatar. The summit also called for imposing sanctions on Israel by suspending the supply, transfer, or transit of weapons, ammunition, and military materiel.

By failing to denounce Hamas and call on it to lay down its weapons and cede control of the Gaza Strip, the Arab and Islamic leaders actually sent a message to the terror group that it is right to continue its Jihad against Israel. More importantly, their failure to hold Hamas responsible for launching the war exempts the terror group from its responsibility for the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip after October 7.

It would have been more helpful had the Arab and Islamic leaders once again issued an appeal to Qatar to stop supporting Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. It would have been beneficial to both Palestinians and Israelis if these leaders had called on Hamas to release all the hostages and end its rule over the Gaza Strip. A demand such as that would have spared the lives of many Palestinians.

These Arab and Islamic leaders, many of whom despise Hamas, could have at least urged Qatar finally to expel the heads of the terror group.

The Arab and Islamic leaders' summit did exactly nothing to help end the war in the Gaza Strip. Condemning Israel while ignoring Hamas's atrocities is of no help in bringing the war to an end. Because of Qatar's failure to pressure the Hamas leaders to release the hostages, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will continue to suffer.

The reason Arab and Islamic leaders did not condemn Hamas is because they are afraid that Qatar will use Al-Jazeera to incite violence and terrorism against their regimes.

Some of these leaders, in addition, including the United States, seem to be afraid of alienating a wealthy country such as Qatar.

The Arab and Islamic leaders have again shown their true colors: hypocrites and cowards.

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.