Three Republican senators introduced a bill on Tuesday challenging the elite status of Qatar as a “major non-NATO ally” of the United States, citing the Islamist state’s close relationship with Hamas and its failure to use those ties to help free hostages taken in the unprecedented October 7 siege of Israel.
Qatar has for decades established itself as a mediating power between global jihadists and the free world, prominently hosting Hamas’s elite “political” leaders in its capital, Doha. Qatar also served as the “political” hub of the Taliban during the 20-year Afghan war, making itself a platform for dialogue between Taliban terrorists and the U.S.-backed Afghan government. Doha has offered safe haven to high-profile jihadists while also allowing the U.S. military to maintain a presence in the country that allows it to plan and orchestrate actions against terrorists in neighboring countries such as Iraq and Syria.
Qatar’s support of Hamas has become a significant point of contention in its relationship with America in the aftermath of October 7. On that day, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and engaged in a wide variety of atrocities against civilians,…
