Israel Actively Managed Qatari Aid to Gaza, TIME Report Reveals

A TIME magazine investigation, based on leaked documents and communications, reveals that Israel played a direct and active role in managing the flow of nearly $2 billion in Qatari funds to the Gaza Strip over more than a decade. This contradicts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public statements, as he seeks to distance himself from the controversial policy ahead of the October 27th elections. The documents indicate that since 2012, Netanyahu's government approved a mechanism that gave Israel direct control over Qatari aid, including fuel, food, and monthly $100 stipends to specific Palestinian families.

Despite public criticism of Qatar for allegedly funding Hamas, Israeli officials privately pushed to continue the transfers. A formal trilateral agreement between Israel, Qatar, and the UN was signed in 2018 to regulate the funding under Israeli supervision. The report highlights Israel's pressure to maintain the cash flow, with former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen sending a letter of gratitude to the Emir of Qatar in 2020 for humanitarian efforts that "crucially improved the humanitarian situation in Gaza and ensured stability and security." In the same year, a representative from the National Security Council urged Qatar to continue transfers exclusively through Ambassador Mohammed Al-Emadi.

Even when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cut salaries in Gaza in 2018, Israeli security personnel were involved in delivering suitcases of Qatari cash. Then-Education Minister Naftali Bennett criticized this as "protection money," but as Prime Minister in 2021, he only stopped the suitcase deliveries, leaving the broader Qatari aid stream intact. An Israeli representative reportedly told a former US envoy that "there is no problem, we want to continue with this as it is."

In 2023, as tensions rose, Qatar sought to alter the model to reduce dependence on Hamas or Israel. However, the Netanyahu government insisted on maintaining the existing mechanism. Just two weeks before the October 7th Hamas attack, Mossad Director David Barnea traveled to Doha to request a two-month extension of the funding, believing the money gave Hamas "something to lose." Qatar agreed but stated it would be the last time.

Qatar has rejected claims that its funds financed the October 7th attack, asserting that all financial aid was directed to civilians through mechanisms coordinated with Israeli authorities. A Qatari spokesperson told TIME that "if any funding reached Hamas, the responsibility lies with Israel, which supervised the supply and created the mechanism." A diplomat familiar with the matter corroborated this, stating Israel vetted and approved the recipients. A former senior Israeli security official described the policy as a "policy failure born of good intentions" but placed Netanyahu at its center, crediting him with advancing and accelerating the plan. Critics suggest the policy aimed to strengthen Hamas to weaken the Palestinian Authority and prevent a Palestinian state, a strategy Netanyahu allegedly alluded to in 2019. Netanyahu, who has also faced scrutiny over "Qatargate," denied this in a 2024 TIME interview, claiming the goal was purely humanitarian to prevent collapse and chaos in Gaza.