Qatar, Hamas Tried to Block Trump’s Peace Plan: Report

Post by : Bandanpreet Kaur

Photo: Reuters

Top Qatari officials and Hamas leaders secretly worked together to stop former US President Donald Trump’s 2020 peace plan called “Peace to Prosperity.” This plan was Trump’s big effort to bring peace between Israel and Palestine.

This information comes from documents said to be found by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza. One document talks about a private meeting held in June 2019. Qatar’s leader, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, met with top Hamas leaders like Khaled Mashal, who was once the political head of Hamas.

In that meeting, Mashal reportedly said, “We must work together to oppose and eliminate the ‘deal of the century.’” This nickname was used to describe Trump’s peace plan.

Six months later, Qatar’s foreign minister at the time, Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, sent a message to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. He said, “The Qatari grants are Hamas’s main artery.” This means that Qatar’s money was a big source of support for Hamas.

Other papers show that Hamas, with Qatar’s support, worked to remove Egypt from its role in peace talks. In May 2021, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar reportedly said, “The Egyptians were trying to stop the fighting, but we made sure they failed. Then the Qataris took over, and we let them lead the peace efforts.”

Yahya Sinwar was killed in October 2024 during fighting with Israeli forces.

Some of the documents also show that Hamas leaders were thankful to Qatar for helping them travel to Iran. They went to attend the funeral of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike on January 3, 2020. On January 7, Ismail Haniyeh sent a thank-you note to Qatari officials, saying, “Thank you to our Qatari brothers who agreed to fly us.”

Ismail Haniyeh was later killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran. He was there for the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. His body was returned to Qatar and buried in Lusail.

The Qatari government has denied these documents. They say the documents are fake and accuse others of trying to harm peace efforts. Qatar also said that such tricks have been used before by people who want peace talks to fail.

Trump’s 2020 peace plan suggested creating a Palestinian state next to Israel. It gave Israel full control over Jerusalem and allowed it to keep many of its settlements in the West Bank. In exchange, Palestinians were offered parts of East Jerusalem for their capital and $50 billion in global investments to help grow their economy.

To get these benefits, Palestinians had to stop violence and agree that Israel is a Jewish state. Palestinian refugees could not return to Israel, but they could get money or move to other places.

Israel supported the plan, but Palestinian leaders rejected it. They believed it was unfair and gave too much to Israel.

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