The wealthy emirate of Qatar, which is involved in many arenas from Asia to Africa, played a role as a mediator in the recent conflict as well, alongside Egypt.
Qatar, due to its involvement in the Palestinian arena and especially its financial aid to the Gaza Strip and to Hamas as the sovereign power there, has leverage that it used from the start of the operation to convey mediating messages between the parties. As in Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, Qatar assumed this role alongside Egypt - although it does not challenge Cairo as in the past, which is further evidence of the improved relations between them.
Publicly, during the days of the operation, Qatar, as usual, attacked Israel mainly on the al-Jazeera network and condemned it. However, behind the scenes the emirate reportedly made efforts to bring about a ceasefire and used its ties with Iran for this purpose – to convince it to pressure Islamic Jihad to agree to a ceasefire.
Qatar sought to promote a ceasefire in order to prevent damage to its reconstruction effort in Gaza and out of an interest in gaining credit, especially in Washington, as an actor that contributes to regional calm and stability, and thereby increase its status and influence. In fact, Qatar's renewed proximity to Egypt and Saudi Arabia contributed to this moderating role.
Qatar is certainly satisfied that Islamic Jihad’s power has eroded, while the organization closer to it – Hamas – was not harmed, and even strengthened its relative position in the Strip. It is expected that Qatar will continue to challenge Israel in its policy, but it can also play a more positive role that Israel can take advantage of in future operations, toward mediation efforts and end state mechanisms.
The wealthy emirate of Qatar, which is involved in many arenas from Asia to Africa, played a role as a mediator in the recent conflict as well, alongside Egypt.
Qatar, due to its involvement in the Palestinian arena and especially its financial aid to the Gaza Strip and to Hamas as the sovereign power there, has leverage that it used from the start of the operation to convey mediating messages between the parties. As in Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, Qatar assumed this role alongside Egypt - although it does not challenge Cairo as in the past, which is further evidence of the improved relations between them.
Publicly, during the days of the operation, Qatar, as usual, attacked Israel mainly on the al-Jazeera network and condemned it. However, behind the scenes the emirate reportedly made efforts to bring about a ceasefire and used its ties with Iran for this purpose – to convince it to pressure Islamic Jihad to agree to a ceasefire.
Qatar sought to promote a ceasefire in order to prevent damage to its reconstruction effort in Gaza and out of an interest in gaining credit, especially in Washington, as an actor that contributes to regional calm and stability, and thereby increase its status and influence. In fact, Qatar's renewed proximity to Egypt and Saudi Arabia contributed to this moderating role.
Qatar is certainly satisfied that Islamic Jihad’s power has eroded, while the organization closer to it – Hamas – was not harmed, and even strengthened its relative position in the Strip. It is expected that Qatar will continue to challenge Israel in its policy, but it can also play a more positive role that Israel can take advantage of in future operations, toward mediation efforts and end state mechanisms.