Qatar threatens Hamas with expulsion, officials say

Qatari officials have warned Hamas’ political bureau that it was no longer welcome in the country amid frustration over stalled hostage and cease-fire negotiations with Israel, according to a senior U.S. administration official and two diplomats briefed on the matter.

“Qatar has become increasingly frustrated with a lack of progress toward a cease-fire by both Hamas and Israel,” one of the diplomats told NBC News Saturday morning. 

“Hamas has been told that if this continues then Qatar cannot continue to host them,” they said.

Later, a diplomat added that Qatar had informed the Israelis and Hamas that “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith, they cannot continue to mediate. As a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose.”

The officials did not say whether Hamas had been given a deadline, how they had responded to the warning to leave, or where they would go.

The move is one of multiple indications that the Biden administration is intensifying efforts to achieve a Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal before leaving office.

The U.S. asked Qatar to kick out Hamas about two weeks ago when they rejected another hostage proposal after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the senior U.S. administration official told NBC News late Friday.  

Qatar agreed and told Hamas’ political leaders about the decision about 10 days ago, the U.S. official said.

“Hamas is a terrorist group that has killed Americans and continues to hold American hostages,” the official said. “After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner.”

According to one of the diplomats briefed on the matter, once the Qataris had made their decision, they notified Israel and Hamas as well as the U.S. administration.

“All sides were given no advance warning and were informed after the decision was made,” they said. 

A Hamas official contacted for comment did not respond. Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has played a key role in mediating talks between Hamas and Israel, alongside Egypt and the U.S.

While housing Hamas representatives in Qatar has long been considered an advantage by negotiators, the country is under growing pressure from the U.S. with the outgoing Biden administration anxious to force Hamas and Israel into deal before leaving office.

Meanwhile, Qatari leaders face the prospect of a hawkish Trump presidency and more powerful Republican lawmakers with little tolerance for rounds of unsuccessful talks or patience with the kingdom’s role as go-between with militants. 

The U.S. request to oust Hamas came partly because of the death of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and it coincided with the unsealing of indictments for Hamas leaders, including Khaled Meshal, who is known to be living in Qatar, according to the U.S. official.

The official said the U.S. is still trying to secure the release of hostages — and that the administration believes that expelling Hamas from Doha will place more pressure on the organization.  

“Qatar has played an invaluable role in helping to mediate a hostage deal and was instrumental in securing the release of nearly 200 hostages last year,” the senior U.S. official said. “However, following Hamas’ repeated refusal to release even a small number of hostages, including most recently during meetings in Cairo, their continued presence in Doha is no longer viable or acceptable.”

About 250 people were taken hostage during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack, which killed around 1,200. Of those, about 100 remain in captivity, with a third believed to be dead. More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the ensuing war, and Israeli forces have destroyed much of the blockaded enclave.

In April, two diplomats told NBC News that Hamas was told to leave Qatar and relocate to Turkey after officials there failed to compel Hamas to agree to a hostage deal. That decision was quickly reversed, they said. 

“The Biden Administration and the Israeli government asked Qatar to bring them back to Qatar because they needed to continue the talks and couldn’t do it while in Turkey,” one diplomat said.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is running to be Senate leader, co-sponsored a bill this year calling on the U.S. to reconsider Qatar’s Major Non-NATO Ally Status. 

“Qatar has not been a good ally or partner to the United States for years,” Scott said at the time.  “Its recent behavior dealing with Hamas is telling.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have also criticized Qatar for not forcing Hamas into an agreement.

Earlier this year, Qatar defended its role in negotiations, with its embassy in Washington issuing a statement saying that Doha’s capacity as mediator “exists only because we were asked by the United States in 2012 to play this role.” 

“Blaming and threatening the mediator is not constructive, especially when the target is a friend and a Major Non-NATO Ally that presently hosts 10,000 U.S. troops and America’s largest military presence in the Middle East,” it added.

Qatar has housed Hamas’ political bureau for over 20 years, and before the war, provided the group with hundreds of millions of dollars of annual assistance, with the knowledge and cooperation of the Israeli government, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank.

Hamas’ leadership is divided between a military wing, based in Gaza, and the political bureau, whose top officials have been based in Qatar. That included Ismail Haniyeh, who led Hamas’ political bureau from 2017 to July 2024, when he was killed while on a diplomatic visit to Iran’s capital, Tehran, in an assassination believed to have been carried out by Israel.Where Hamas would relocate is not clear, but Iran might be one option. 

Hamas met with Iran’s President in Doha last month. The “Zionist entity today in Gaza and Lebanon pierce the heart of every human being,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said at the time. “This pain is even greater for those of us who consider the oppressed Palestinian people as our brothers in faith.”