Qatar playing complex role between United States, Israel and Hamas

Intense US diplomacy to secure the release of hundreds of hostages held by Hamas is shining a spotlight on the complicated role held by the tiny Gulf nation of Qatar.

At times a pariah among its immediate neighbors, the gas and oil-rich monarchy has managed for years to straddle the line between being a close US partner while enraging Gulf countries over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement of political Islam that helped inspire Hamas’s founding. 

US officials are putting increasing pressure on Qatar to distance itself from Hamas following its abhorrent terrorist attack against Israel on October 7. 

But Qatar’s track record as a reliable mediator between authoritarian states, terrorist groups and democracies make it one of the only countries that can help retrieve hundreds of innocent people from the Gaza Strip. 

“We’re using every connection we can to try to get the release of the hostages. Qatar has avenues that we think are helpful,” Sen. Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Hill. 

“We have been very clear about Qatar’s role in allowing Hamas reign in their country — it’s wrong. And we have pointed that out and we’ll continue to point that out,” he said.

The relationship is complicated, Cardin added, pointing to the Al Udeid Air base in Doha, owned by Qatar but home to US Central Command and US Air Force Central Command. The base is the epicenter of American military power overseeing the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and countries of the former Soviet Union.  

Hamas is estimated to have kidnapped more than 200 people from Israel during the October 07 massacre that also killed more than 1,400 people in southern Israel. Americans are among those being held and their families have advocated for their release in Israel and in Washington D.C.

Qatar has allowed Hamas to operate a political office in Doha since 2012 and it has mediated between Israel and Hamas in previous rounds of conflict, also helping with the transfer of money and goods to the Gaza Strip that came out of such deals.

The scale of the current hostage crisis is unlike anything in recent memory. Among those kidnapped are toddlers, a nursing baby, the elderly, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, all being held in locations and conditions unknown. 

Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said this week that dozens of the hostages have been killed in Israeli air strikes, but they offered no proof. The US-designated terror group has otherwise provided little to no information on the captives and no visitation from international aid groups. 

“Something very basic, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders are not allowed to get in, we don’t even know if our loved one is alive or dead,” said Ruby Chen, a US-Israeli citizen whose 19-year-old son Itay, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), is believed to be held by Hamas. 

“Want to think about that for a second? Make it happen.”

Qatar has so far helped facilitate the release of four of Hamas’s hostages, an American-Israeli mother and daughter, and two elderly women.

Gerald Feierstein, a former ambassador to Yemen and four-decade veteran of the foreign service in the Middle East and Gulf, said that Qatar likes to view itself as a Switzerland-like mediator in the Middle East and that provides them clout and protection in a hostile environment.

“They see that they can play a role by keeping channels of communication open to people that the world despises. Whether it’s the Taliban or Hamas, or the Iranians for that matter, they see that they can be useful by being able to communicate or pass messages,” Feierstein said.

“They really see themselves as playing a role much larger than their size and impact would suggest.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has thanked Qatar for playing a very important role in securing the release of the American-Israelis. But the secretary has also said in Doha that there can be no more business as usual with Hamas.  

He reportedly called on the Qatari government to tone down rhetoric in news coverage about Israel on Al Jazeera, the nominally private but Qatari-funded English and Arabic news group. 

“I don’t think that — forced to choose — there’s any question that the Qataris value the relationship with the US more highly than with Hamas”, said Feierstein, now a distinguished senior fellow on US diplomacy at the Middle East Institute.

Feierstein also spoke to the Qatari’s track record in diplomacy, pointing to their role in the early 2000s of trying to mediate between warring factions in Yemen; mediation efforts between Ethiopia and Eritrea; and offering Doha as a venue for the US to hold talks with the Taliban. 

“I can’t think of any time where the Qataris said that they would do something and didn’t do it. I think that they are reliable,” he said. 

“Generally speaking, their word is good. And obviously if you want to play the role that they want to play, that’s an absolutely essential component. If people didn’t trust you then they wouldn’t turn to you to undertake these things.” 

It’s unclear what it might take for Hamas to release the hostages, who are among a wide range of factors that is seemingly delaying an Israel ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

Among possible Hamas demands are a ceasefire amid heavy Israeli airstrikes, asking Israel to release Palestinian prisoners, money or some type of immunity.

Rep. Haley Stevens, co-chair of the ​​Congressional Task Force on American Hostages and Americans Wrongfully Detained Abroad, called the task of rescuing the hostages unprecedented, speaking to The Hill after a press conference with the families whose loved ones are being held by Hamas.

The task force was an initiative started in 2021 to help congressional offices navigate the support available for constituents and their families in circumstances of their loved one being unjustly arrested or detained abroad, or even taken captive by a terrorist group.

But she called this situation very different.

“This was an act of lawlessness. It wasn’t even an act of war because it’s outside of the rules of war to do what has been done here. And this has been part of the head spinning terror that was descended upon the Israelis on October 7th,” she said

Asked about Qatar’s role as a mediator, Stevens called for the administration to be open about how the US is carrying out its diplomacy.  

“Our diplomacy is going to be essential, the work of our ambassadors, the work of our State Department, and that’s a place that we as members of Congress can lend oversight and, if need be, appropriating authority to our federal agencies to assist in those negotiations,” she said.

Haley raised concern that the administration’s pending transfer of US$6 billion in frozen Iranian funds — facilitated in exchange for the release of Americans wrongfully detained — has raised the cost for hostages.

“While we don’t want to slow things down by any stretch of the means, engaging members as the administration can in classified settings is very helpful,” she said.  

Israel multifaceted failure

The Israeli lack of preparedness for, and weak initial response to, the Hamas attack on October 07 encompassed four key failures.

First, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict crumbled. While never officially articulated, Netanyahu’s approach since 2009 had involved sidelining the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) and allowing the strengthening of Hamas in Gaza, within certain limits.

This approach enabled Netanyahu to avoid meaningful negotiations with the PA, which might have led to the establishment of a Palestinian state, a prospect he opposes. The ascent of Hamas in Gaza aided Netanyahu in his effort to fragment the Palestinian national movement. It also allowed him to claim he could not negotiate with a significant part of the Palestinian national movement, due to its extremist Islamist rejectionist stance. The combined effect was that Netanyahu did not face significant international pressure to resume talks with the Palestinians. Moreover, the state of affairs limited international efforts (in particular by the European Union and the United States) to advance Palestinian unification. Due to Hamas’ nature, such efforts were deemed too sensitive.

The prime minister’s policy went largely unchallenged for over a decade, in part because it wasn’t fully disclosed. Ongoing clashes with Hamas every few years signaled deep hostility between the parties; although behind closed doors, Netanyahu admitted that the status quo, including Qatari funding to Hamas, serves his policies. In a 2019 Likud faction meeting, the prime minister said that if one opposes a Palestinian state, he should favor the (Israeli approved) Qatari transfer of funds to Hamas in Gaza because maintaining the wedge between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Shifting political conditions in Israel — such as the decline of the Israeli left, which had been advocating for a two-state solution — further helped the prime minister. Finally, Netanyahu’s increasingly populist leadership style led to the removal of strong figures who might have dissented in both his party and the cabinet.

The second pillar of the October 07 debacle was the intelligence failure. Israeli security agencies, especially the Directorate of Military Intelligence (AMAN) and the Israeli Security Agency (SHABAK, also widely known as Shin Bet), acknowledged their shortcomings. SHABAK’s head, Ronen Bar, took responsibility on October 16, followed a day later by Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliwa of AMAN. The intelligence failure was systemic. At a strategic level, Israel misunderstood Hamas’ goals, with some in the security establishment wrongly believing that the necessity for quasi-sovereignty in Gaza would make the organization more pragmatic and potentially alter its ideology. The 2017 policy paper released by Hamas was viewed by some in Israel and abroad as a potential sign of change. Hamas’ choice not to engage Israel during its two last major armed clashes with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza were regarded by many in Israel as further proof of Hamas’ pragmatic approach. Additionally, Israel’s security agencies failed to anticipate the attack pattern and its timing. The bitter taste of failure in Israel is especially pronounced, considering that the country’s intelligence agencies have enjoyed ample resources and demonstrated their effectiveness in near and distant arenas for decades. As in previous Israeli and international intelligence failures, it seems that Israel had some information, but its intelligence agencies did not piece it together and issue a warning.

The third aspect of the failure pertained to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operational preparedness. It appears that the organization lacked clear plans for how to handle such a widespread attack. Israel was caught off guard by the large and brutal assaults on civilian communities, or the massive rave party that took place near the border. Another surprise was Hamas’ influence campaign accompanying the attacks, which included the extensive use of cameras by the attackers, documenting their actions, which members of the international human rights community have already begun to identify as war crimes. Others in the international community, such as US President Joe Biden, compared Hamas’ actions to the brutality displayed by ISIS. Israel was further taken aback by some of the tactical military aspects of the attack, including the dismantling of sensors, assaults on Israeli command-and-control posts, and the easy breach of the barrier constructed on the Israel-Gaza border.

The fourth failure involved the state’s weak response to the crisis, at least in the initial phase. Many Israelis were deeply disappointed by the military’s inability to come to the aid of the 1,000 civilians who were murdered, the thousands wounded, and the approximately 220 abducted to Gaza. In some cases, military forces were only able to retake control more than 24 hours after the attack began. This general sense of ineptitude was accompanied by an underwhelming leadership response, including in providing information and reassuring the public as the crisis unfolded, facilitating the absorption of internally displaced people, or offering financial support and social services. The prime minister, normally a brilliant speaker, did not effectively engage with the public and — to date — has yet to take any responsibility for what transpired on his watch.

 

Israeli ground operation risks endless violence in region warns Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia issued a stark warning against the dangers of Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip. A Saudi official emphasized that such a ground invasion could plunge the region into a prolonged and endless cycle of violence.

The Kingdom expressed concern that the operation would have serious and grave repercussions for international peace and security.

He highlighted the real challenge and ethical responsibility facing the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, urging swift and binding action to halt the violence, protect civilians, and address the ongoing conflicts.

Saudi Arabia called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation and underscored the need for urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan conducted multiple calls with Arab counterparts, including those from Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt.

The discussions focused on intensifying collective efforts to halt military escalation, prevent forced displacement of Gaza citizens, and engage the international community in providing consistent relief aid and medical assistance.

Furthermore, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General, Jassem Al Budaiwi, stressed the absence of a political solution contributing to worsening conditions in Gaza, emphasizing the Security Council's responsibility for achieving peace and security in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Israel continued its military actions, urging Palestinians in Gaza to move south temporarily for their safety. The Israeli army accused Hamas of using civilian areas for military purposes, widening its air and ground attacks.

The death toll in Gaza has risen significantly, with a disproportionate impact on women and children. The UN General Assembly called for an immediate humanitarian truce, a resolution supported by 120 states but rejected by Israel.

Gaza's 2.3 million residents face severe shortages of essentials due to the ongoing conflict and blockade.

Two-state solution for lasting peace in Middle East

Israel hasn’t expressed interest in following the advice of world leaders that it revives the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

In the past wars against Hamas, Israel moved quickly to invade Gaza, seeking to degrade the militant group’s ability to fire rockets into the country, now Tel Aviv’s stated aim is Hamas’s destruction.

In the three weeks since the group killed 1,400 people in Israel, it has staged several limited ground incursions into Gaza, the latest on Friday night.

The stakes are high for Israel, from the lives of some 200 hostages to worries about triggering a regional war.

While US President Joe Biden has expressed strong support for Israel’s professed goals, he also advised delay of any full-scale invasion as he seeks to win release of the hostages and insure the flow of much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.

The Pentagon is also scrambling to put defensive measures in place for US assets that may come under attack (Iran has warned of such escalation, and skirmishes between the two are increasing).

At the same time, global outrage has been rising at the massive number of Palestinian casualties inflicted by Israel, with more than 7,000 dead—including thousands of children.

As the Israel Defense Forces lay waste to large swathes of the Gaza Strip, Biden has urged Israel to consider America’s mistakes after the 9/11 attacks–and to have a clear plan for the aftermath.

“Anything that could lower risks and collateral damage, while still attaining the goal of crippling Hamas, is worth consideration.” Marc Champion writes in Bloomberg Opinion.

Massacres in Gaza being done in total darkness

The intense bombing in the last few hours has destroyed the remaining international routes linking Gaza to the outside world. People have lost access to internet and communication services across the Gaza Strip on Friday night as Israel intensified its ground attack and launched what observers described as the largest aerial assault since its latest bombing campaign began nearly three weeks ago.

Al Jazeera reported that it has only sporadic communication with its correspondents on the ground in the besieged Gaza Strip. The outlet has been able to go live intermittently via satellite phones.

Reporting from Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum said, "We don't know anything that is happening in other districts in the territory."

"We are now in a hospital and we are going to be live by satellite as much as we can and every single hour," he continued. "So please, if you can hear us, send that message to the world that we are isolated now in Gaza. We don't have any phone signals. We don't have any internet connections."

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it has "completely lost contact with the operations room in Gaza Strip and all our teams operating there due to the Israeli authorities cutting off all landline, cellular, and internet communications."

"We are deeply concerned about the ability of our teams to continue providing their emergency medical services, especially since this disruption affects the central emergency number '101' and hinders the arrival of ambulance vehicles to the wounded and injured," the group said.

"We are also worried about the safety of our teams working in Gaza Strip as the continuous and intense Israeli airstrikes around the clock indicate that the Israeli authorities will continue to commit war crimes while isolating Gaza from the outside world."

Like Al Jazeera and other outlets, The Associated Press reported trouble contacting people in the Gaza Strip.

"The Associated Press' attempts to reach people in Gaza did not go through," the outlet said Friday.

"We are likely to soon find out about the biggest massacres we've seen yet."

Friday's onslaught came at the tail end of a particularly deadly week in Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 7,000 people in just three weeks. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari announced Friday that in addition to ramping up its airstrikes, the Israeli military is "expanding ground operations" in Gaza ahead of an expected full-scale invasion.

Israel has also largely kept up its illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip, depriving the territory of critical necessities—including fuel and electricity—and intensifying the enclave's humanitarian crisis.

Israel's airstrikes have severely damaged Gaza's internet and telecommunications infrastructure, hampering people's ability to communicate with their families and undermining journalists' efforts to inform the world about events on the ground.

On Friday, the Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel announced "a complete disruption of all communication and internet services" due to the Israeli bombardment.

"The intense bombing in the last hour caused the destruction of all remaining international routes linking Gaza to the outside world," the company said.

The London-based watchdog group NetBlocks wrote on social media that "live network data show a collapse in connectivity in the Gaza Strip with high impact to Paltel."

Amid the intense bombing and communications blackout on Friday, Medical Aid for Palestinians director of advocacy Rohan Talbot relayed a message that a colleague delivered just days earlier.

"I'm afraid that there will be massacres and those massacres will be done in total darkness," the unnamed colleague said, according to Talbot.

Palestinian-American political analyst Yousef Munayyer issued a similar warning on Friday.

"The Israeli military is carrying out its biggest strikes since the start of its war on Gaza right now, all the lights and communications are knocked out," he wrote on social media. "We are likely to soon find out about the biggest massacres we've seen yet."

 

Bangladesh Nationalist Party aligns with US Indo-Pacific Strategy

In South Asian pre and post colonial political history, no political party has faced as much oppression as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has under the current Awami League regime except what the latter faced during the war of liberation. There is a difference though between the oppression that the Awami League faced in 1971 under Pakistan’s military regime and what the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has faced since January 2009, when the Awami League assumed office.

In 1971, the Awami League’s top leadership crossed the border into India after Bangabandhu had surrendered to the Pakistan military on the night of March 25–26. Thus, the Awami League’s top leadership was in safety in Kolkata. The Indian government and its intelligence looked after the Awami League’s top leadership during the nine months that the Pakistani military carried out its crimes against inhumanity inside Bangladesh.

The BNP leadership as well as its grass roots has had no such luck. The Awami League regime has relentlessly persecuted them because they had no friendly country to flee. The extent of such persecution was revealed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party at a seminar for foreign diplomatic missions and the civil society held in Dhaka recently.

The seminar chaired by the BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was titled ‘A Democratic Future for Bangladesh and the Indo-Pacific Strategy.’ The BNP’s foreign affairs committee chairman Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury presented the paper.

The BNP’s seminar also flagged the need for Bangladesh to embrace the Biden administration’s IPS, which has everything not just to save democracy and rights that are on the slippery slope but also to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country and beyond as a liberal democracy.

The paper came up with mind-boggling statistics on the persecution that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has faced in leading people’s movement against the Awami League regime’s efforts to turn the country into a one-party state.

Thus far, 1,204 BNP leaders and activists have been victims of enforced disappearances; 1,539 have died in political killing in crossfire and 799 in extrajudicial killings. The Awami League regime has filed 141,633 ‘fabricated and unfounded cases’ involving 4,947,019. These figures, reprehensible as they are, abated significantly following the US sanctions in December 2021 on the Rapid Action Battalion and the police for serious rights violations.

Khaleda Zia, the BNP chairperson, is in the twilight zone between life and death for her life-threatening medical condition and incarceration since 2018 through politically motivated cases. The regime has not allowed her to go abroad for treatment not available at home. Tareq Zia has been exiled and is running the BNP as the acting chairman from London. He has kept the party united and energized. In between, the Awami League regime has tried to break the BNP through the proverbial ‘Mir Jafars’ that has failed.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is leading today the most courageous and determined movement for democracy and human and political rights against odds that few political parties in the history of such movements in developing countries have faced.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has successfully brought the entire opposition parties and forces under one umbrella without resorting to violence. The Awami League regime’s efforts to use every imaginable and unimaginable way to break the BNP have only enhanced the latter’s resolve and determination to fight the regime in the same spirit and determination with which the people fought the Pakistani military in 1971. Thus, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party today is more united and determined to fight and defeat the Awami League regime that has systematically thwarted people’s political, democratic and human rights.

The seminar flagged the BNP’s role in the nation’s fight for democracy, and human and political rights. It also gave a vision for the nation that would help Bangladesh to get back on its feet in a post-AL regime where whichever party assumes office will have to rebuild Bangladesh institutionally, politically and in the context of critical foreign relations from scratch.

It is now an open secret that the Awami League regime has systematically weakened all institutions of nation-building to make Bangladesh and the Awami League one with the interests of the party dominating over and subservient to the interests of the country. Today, the civil bureaucracy, the law enforcement agencies and even constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission are indistinguishable from the ruling party. Or else, the deputy commissioner of Jamalpur would not have openly and unashamedly sought people’s support for the ruling party or ambassadors abroad would not have been present and anchored the prime minister’s political meetings abroad with the Awami League diaspora.

The Awami League regime has, meanwhile, managed to turn the United States, in particular, and the west, in general, into Bangladesh’s adversaries. It did so oblivious of the fact that it would need the US-west in an indispensable manner for graduating to a middle-income country.

The Awami League regime has, thus, damaged Bangladesh’s critically important relations with the Biden administration although the United States is pursuing democracy and human and political rights in its bilateral relations with Bangladesh because these are against its interests in Bangladesh’s current politics.

The regime has also deliberately brought the US’s 1971 role into the equation to create an anti-US sentiment although the Biden administration is pursuing the issues for which Bangladesh fought its liberation war.

The Awami League regime also stated for the same reason, to create an anti-US sentiment in Bangladesh, that the Biden administration would stop opposing if it gave it St Martins Island to the United States to build a military base although it was told to the contrary by the high delegations that visited Dhaka in recent times.

The Awami League regime also tried to derail the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, which is a win-win strategy for Bangladesh and the nations in the Indo-Pacific. The regime gave lip service to the IPS with its Indo-Pacific Outlook that it announced in April. The Biden administration ignored the Awami League regime’s Indo-Pacific Outlook because it knew that if the regime was serious, it would not have accused the United States of seeking a military base after senior US officials had informed the AL regime to the contrary.

The BNP’s seminar on embracing IPS was, therefore, a smart move for the future of Bangladesh and the region as an examination of the strategy would reveal. The IPS is free and open with ‘governance that is transparent and responsive to the people.’ It is based upon connectivity in all its facets to bring nations closer to one another. The IPS is also based upon a free, fair, open and reciprocal trade regime to make the region prosperous. It stresses resilience for improved health security and economic ability to help nations ‘withstand climate change, pandemics and transnational threats.’ Finally, the IPS is secure as it ensures ‘movements of people, ideas, and goods across the international sea, land, and air borders and cyberspace are made legally.’

The Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy is, thus, the USA’s soft power approach for the Indo-Pacific region to deal with China’s expansion by avoiding the military path. Its present involvement in Bangladesh in pursuit of democracy and rights is also in pursuit of its Indo-Pacific Strategy which is why it is so determined to ensure that Bangladesh succeeds in holding its next general election freely, fairly, and peacefully for democracy, human and political rights to succeed.

The BNP’s seminar on democracy and the IPS was, therefore, extremely important. It flagged the need for the country to commit itself again to the causes for which millions embraced martyrdom in 1971.

 Courtesy: The Bangladesh Chronicle

 

 

 

Iran: Chinese investment in railway and renewable energy projects

First Vice President of Iran on Thursday discussed the strengthening Tehran-Beijing ties with Premier of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 22nd session of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Iran officially became a full member of the SCO in April 2023.

Mohammad Mokhber said the relations between Iran and China rooted in history and culture and said Iran has extensive capacities and capabilities that can be put to use in the two countries’ ties. 

Mokhber announced that Iran sees the development of ties with China as extremely important. “The development of Makran and Chabahar coasts, the construction of 15,000 megawatts of renewable power plants, mining development, Tehran-Mashhad and Tehran-Isfahan high-speed train projects, and transit cooperation in the west and east are all on Iran's agenda, and we welcome China's participation and investment in these areas,” the official noted. 

The vice president also emphasized the full implementation of the 25-year cooperation agreement between Iran and China. The deal signed in 2021 includes economic, military and security cooperation.

Mokhber also took the time to thank Beijing for its stance on Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza which have so far resulted in the death of more than 7,000 civilians. 

“The bitter events in Gaza and Palestine hurt the heart of every noble, free, and conscientious person, and unfortunately, in the current chaotic situation and war crimes being committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza, most of the casualties are among civilians, women, and children”. 

The Chinese premier, for his part, described Iran as one of the major and influential countries in the West Asian region. “Iran's full presence and membership in Shanghai and BRICS will strengthen these organizations and be very useful for regional and global peace and stability,” he said. 

“The relations between the two countries have always had a growing trend since the establishment of political relations fifty years ago, and this year important agreements have been concluded between Tehran and Beijing with two meetings between the presidents of the two countries,” Li said, adding that Beijing regards Tehran as an important partner and seeks to further enhance ties with the West Asian country.