New details reveal that just one month before the October 7 massacre, Israel actively pressed Qatar to expand the flow of cash into the Gaza Strip, funds that went directly to the Hamas government. At the time, Israel’s security establishment assessed that Hamas was not interested in a full-scale escalation and was instead using limited confrontations along the border fence as leverage to extract additional economic concessions.
According to a report by Ynet, a key meeting took place in September 2023 at a hotel in Yerushalayim. During that meeting, official Israeli representatives asked a senior Qatari official to increase the transfer of funds to Hamas in Gaza, citing threats by the terror organization to escalate violence in the enclave.
The central figure at the meeting was Mohammed al-Emadi, the Qatari official who for years oversaw the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars into Gaza. These transfers were carried out with the knowledge and approval of successive Israeli governments.
The report states that Israel’s entire security system believed Hamas was not seeking a broader conflict. Instead, officials assessed that Hamas was deliberately managing friction near the border in order to secure economic relief and additional concessions.
Israeli officials also received assurances from Qatar that Hamas was interested in preserving stability. At the same time, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar reportedly demanded an increased allocation of fuel for Gaza’s power station during the August–September period, citing the extreme summer heat.
During September, Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Doha for meetings with senior Qatari officials to coordinate the continuation of the cash transfers. According to the report, Qatari officials directly asked whether they should keep transferring money to Hamas. Barnea responded affirmatively, acting under the explicit instructions of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
The report further notes that Barnea had opposed the transfer of Qatari funds to Hamas even before assuming his role as Mossad chief. Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, as well as his predecessor Nadav Argaman, were also firmly against allowing Qatari money to reach Hamas. Despite this opposition, Netanyahu repeatedly set the priority of maintaining calm in Gaza at almost any cost and instructed officials to coordinate that policy with Qatar.
It now emerges that Israel was not merely interested in continuing the existing funding mechanism. According to the report, Israeli officials sought to expand the financial transfers and grant additional economic concessions, largely in line with Sinwar’s demands, in what is described as a desperate attempt to purchase quiet.
In hindsight, the cost of that policy is now tragically clear.
{Matzav.com}
