Yedioth Ahronoth: Israel Sought to Increase Qatari Funds to Hamas a Month Before the October 7 Attack

Translation by SadaNews - The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed on Friday that a significant meeting took place at a hotel in Jerusalem in early September 2023, between Israeli and Qatari officials regarding the transfer of funds that were meant for the "Hamas" movement in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Hebrew newspaper, as translated by SadaNews, Israel asked Doha during that meeting to continue transferring funds to Hamas.

The newspaper indicated that Israel had done more than that; it had actively sought to increase these funds in light of Hamas's threats of escalation from the Gaza Strip.

The newspaper pointed out that Qatari diplomat Mohammed al-Emadi was present at the high-level meeting, attended by Israeli officials, including the head of the Shin Bet in the southern region, and the coordinator of Israeli government activities at the time, Ghassan Aliyan, among others.

According to the newspaper, tensions prevailed within the security establishment and the political sphere, given the escalating tensions on the Gaza border and discussions about resuming the March of Return at that time.

The newspaper stated that the purpose of the meeting was to negotiate the demands of the "Hamas" movement at a time when assessments within the Israeli security establishment indicated that "Hamas" did not wish to escalate the situation in Gaza and was exploiting the ongoing clashes around the border fence to secure economic deals.

A month before this meeting, another Qatari official arrived to prepare for meetings with the head of the "Hamas" movement, and later, al-Emadi himself entered Gaza, where he met with Yahya Sinwar, Rouhi Mushtaha, and others. Upon leaving the Strip, Israel received the following messages from Qatar: Hamas does not want escalation and is interested in maintaining security stability.

Sinwar had then requested an increase in fuel quotas for power plants during August and September due to the summer heat, as well as increasing fuel purchases from Egypt (financed by Qatar) from 3 million dollars per month to 7 million dollars.

According to the newspaper, as translated by SadaNews, al-Emadi informed Hamas that Qatar was not prepared for that.

The mechanism in place was that instead of directly transferring cash to Hamas, an agreement was reached between Qatar, Israel, and the movement for Qatar to purchase fuel from Egypt as a grant for the Gaza Strip, which Hamas would sell to the power stations, allowing the movement to collect between 3 and 10 million dollars. However, in reality, the amount was much larger, and that money was used to pay the salaries of senior government officials in Gaza, the newspaper reported and translated by SadaNews.

At that time, the Shin Bet, military intelligence, and the security agency described the rising tension in Gaza and the revival of the March of Return, which later turned out to be a scam by Hamas, as an attempt to pressure for more money.

Israeli security reports at that time, subsequently as a conclusion of al-Emadi's visit, indicated that Hamas had renewed confrontations on the Gaza border in preparation for al-Emadi's visit.

The newspaper states: For this reason, the meeting held in a hotel in Jerusalem in early September is extremely important, as it addressed Hamas's demands, including providing fuel for the power plant, fuel from Egypt, and providing job opportunities for Gazans, among others.

During the meeting, the Israeli representatives asked al-Emadi to increase fuel purchases from Egypt for the benefit of Hamas and to ensure the continuation of calm. However, al-Emadi was unable to confirm that at the time.

After a while, in September, Mossad chief Dedi Barnea traveled to Doha for meetings with senior officials in an attempt to arrange the continued transfer of funds to Hamas.

According to the newspaper, senior Qatari officials asked the Mossad chief whether they should continue transferring funds, to which he affirmed, guided by Prime Minister Netanyahu.

It is noteworthy that Barnea, even before taking office, had strongly opposed the transfer of funds to Hamas, as did the head of the Shin Bet, Ronin Bar, along with his predecessor Nadav Argaman, while Netanyahu repeatedly ordered prioritizing the maintenance of peace in the Gaza Strip at any cost and mandated coordination with the Qataris in this respect.

According to the newspaper, this directive was also issued based on information from the security establishment indicating that Hamas was seeking peace and attempting to blackmail Israel, and that intelligence had failed to obtain information about its intentions to attack Israel. However, it has now become clear that the Israeli government not only continued to transfer funds from Qatar to Hamas but also sought to increase these transfers and offer additional concessions, at the request of Hamas leader Sinwar, in a desperate attempt to buy peace, the newspaper stated.