Previously undisclosed correspondence shows senior Israeli officials encouraged Qatar to maintain nearly $2 billion in financial assistance to Hamas-controlled Gaza, raising renewed questions about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies ahead of Israel’s October 27 election.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

Senior Israeli security officials repeatedly encouraged Qatar to continue financing humanitarian assistance in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, even as Israeli leaders publicly criticized Doha’s relationship with the militant group, according to documents published Sunday, Oct. 18.

The correspondence, obtained by TIME magazine, details Israel’s involvement in facilitating nearly $2 billion in Qatari assistance over more than a decade. The arrangements included funding for electricity, fuel, government salaries and direct payments to Palestinian families.

<br>

The revelations come nine days before Israel’s October 27 parliamentary election, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to retain power. President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu on Sunday, as questions surrounding the Gaza financing arrangements returned to the center of Israeli political debate.

Among the documents is a 2020 letter from Yossi Cohen, then director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, thanking Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for the country’s financial assistance.

“Undoubtedly, these humanitarian efforts have played a crucial role in improving the humanitarian situation within the Gaza Strip, and ensuring stability and safety in the region,” Cohen wrote.

Another letter, written that year by R. L. Maoz, a member of Netanyahu’s National Security Council, explicitly requested that Qatar preserve the existing payment arrangements.

“We reiterate the importance of continuing to transfer the Qatari humanitarian financial assistance through the existing mechanism,” Maoz wrote.

The documents suggest that Israel’s involvement went beyond permitting Qatari funds to enter Gaza. Israeli authorities helped establish distribution procedures, identify eligible recipients and coordinate deliveries through international organizations.

Qatar began providing financial assistance to Gaza in 2007, after Hamas consolidated control of the territory. Netanyahu’s government expanded Israel’s involvement beginning in 2012, according to the investigation.

By 2018, approximately $1.1 billion had entered Gaza through the assistance program, according to an analysis previously provided to Israeli ministers.

The financial arrangements became more formalized that year through cooperation among Qatar, Israel and the United Nations, including an October agreement supporting fuel deliveries to Gaza.

Under subsequent arrangements, Qatar financed electricity and fuel purchases, United Nations projects and monthly payments to low-income Palestinian households.

Israeli authorities screened beneficiaries and coordinated distribution, while international agencies helped administer assistance.

The arrangements continued despite objections from some Israeli officials who questioned whether the payments indirectly strengthened Hamas by reducing its financial responsibilities as Gaza’s governing authority.

Critics have argued that providing economic relief to the territory enabled Hamas to devote other resources to its military operations. However, the newly disclosed correspondence does not independently establish that the humanitarian funds were directly transferred to Hamas’s armed wing.

The policy has faced intensified scrutiny since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken into Gaza.

A previous New York Times investigation reported that Mossad Director David Barnea met Qatari officials in September 2023, shortly before the attack, and supported continuing the financial transfers.

The latest documents provide additional evidence that senior Israeli officials actively sought to maintain those arrangements.

Netanyahu has defended the policy as a measure intended to prevent Gaza’s civilian institutions from collapsing.

“The reason that successive governments agreed to that is that we wanted to make sure that Gaza has a functioning civilian administration to avoid humanitarian collapse,” Netanyahu told TIME in a 2024 interview.

His office did not respond to the magazine’s latest request for comment.

Qatar has rejected accusations that its assistance was intended to finance Hamas, maintaining that the program operated with Israeli oversight and international coordination.

“If any funding reached Hamas, as alleged by individuals and groups with political agendas against Qatar, the responsibility lies with Israel, which oversaw the delivery and created the mechanism,” a spokesperson for Qatar’s International Media Office told TIME.

The spokesperson said humanitarian assistance, including food, medicine and fuel, passed through Israeli-controlled channels before reaching Gaza.

The revelations have revived criticism of Netanyahu’s broader strategy toward the Palestinian territories.

Political opponents have accused him of tolerating Hamas’s continued control of Gaza to prevent political unity between the territory and the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank.

Netanyahu has disputed that characterization, arguing that maintaining basic services in Gaza was necessary to prevent humanitarian instability and further violence.

The arrangement also continued under successive Israeli governments, including that of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, although the method of delivering assistance changed.

Bennett ended the practice of transferring cash-filled suitcases into Gaza but allowed other Qatari assistance programs to remain operational.

The payments reportedly continued with the knowledge and support of successive American administrations and international partners.

The disclosures have also prompted renewed discussion of Israeli officials’ involvement.

Neither Israel’s embassy in Washington nor Qatar’s International Media Office immediately responded to requests for additional comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The controversy arrives as international negotiators consider new arrangements for rebuilding Gaza and delivering essential services without reinforcing Hamas’s political or military influence.

Qatar and other Arab governments are working with Trump administration representatives Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on proposals intended to restore electricity, water and other basic services while establishing a more sustainable civilian administration.

The central challenge remains determining how assistance can reach Gaza’s population without strengthening armed groups or creating another politically contested funding arrangement.

The newly released correspondence adds to the historical record of Israel’s role in approving and administering Qatari assistance. It also raises questions about whether officials adequately assessed the long-term security consequences of maintaining the system.

As Israeli voters prepare for the October 27 election, Netanyahu faces renewed scrutiny over decisions his government made before the 2023 attack, including the extent to which it encouraged financial assistance to continue despite concerns about Hamas’s influence in Gaza.

Original article
Add as a preferred source on Google