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Qatar denies funding Hamas, says Israel oversaw Gaza aid transfers - Ynetnews
Qatar has sharply rejected allegations that it transferred money to Hamas, accusing The New Yorker of relying on fabricated material in a report examining alleged Qatari influence involving advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “To be clear, Qatar’s assistance has been directed to Palestinian civilians in Gaza through mechanisms coordinated with the Israeli authorities and international partners,” Qatar’s International Media Office said. “Under previous aid mechanisms, all financial assistance, as well as goods such as food, medicine and fuel, passed through Israel before entering Gaza.” The Qatari government said nothing was delivered without Israeli involvement and that the aid arrangements operated for years under successive Israeli governments and with the involvement of Israeli security agencies. “If any funding reached Hamas, it had nothing to do with Qatar,” the statement said. Qatar argued that responsibility for any diversion would instead lie with Israel, which oversaw the aid arrangements under governments led by Netanyahu as well as former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, with the involvement of agencies including the Mossad intelligence service and Shin Bet domestic security agency. Qatar, a wealthy Gulf Arab state and longtime U.S. partner that hosts a major American military base, has played a complicated...
