Qatar agreed in recent weeks to kick Hamas out of its country following a request from the US to do so, capping off months of failed attempts to try to get the militant group – whose top leaders reside in the Qatari capital of Doha – to accept a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, US and Qatari sources told CNN.
With efforts to pause the war – which has been a top priority for President Joe Biden – firmly stalled, US officials informed their Qatari counterparts about two weeks ago that they must stop giving Hamas refuge in their capital; Qatar agreed and gave Hamas notice about a week ago, sources said.
“Hamas is a terrorist group that has killed Americans and continues to hold Americans hostage,” a senior administration official told CNN. “After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner.”
A senior Hamas official said reports of Qatar agreeing to expel Hamas officials from Doha were “baseless” and a “pressure tactic,” adding that similar claims have been previously circulated without supporting evidence.
“What was reported in the Israeli media about Qatar agreeing to expel Hamas from Doha following a US request has no basis and is merely a pressure tactic. This has been repeated without any evidence,” the Hamas official told CNN on Saturday.
Throughout the course of the war and negotiations to bring the hostages home, US officials have asked Qatar to use the threat of expulsion as leverage in their talks with Hamas. The final impetus for Qatar agreeing to kick Hamas out came recently after the death of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Hamas’ rejection of yet another ceasefire proposal.
Qatar has been a major player in efforts over the past year to try to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, in no small part because senior members of the militant group are based in Doha. Major negotiations have taken place in the Qatari capital for that reason.
Exactly when Hamas operatives would be exiled out of Qatar – and where they would go – are unclear. One US official told CNN the group has not been given an extended amount of time to leave the country. While Turkey is seen as a possible option, the US is not likely to approve of that scenario for the same reasons that it does not want Qatar to give refuge to Hamas leadership.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department charged several senior Hamas leaders over the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel. At least one of those defendants, Khaled Meshaal, is believed to be residing in Qatar.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also told Qatar over the summer to warn Hamas that if the group did not agree to halt the war in Gaza, they would risk getting kicked out of Doha.