doha, qatar —
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said this week that negotiations to free hostages held by Hamas are progressing.
With most of the more than 200 hostages still in captivity or missing, and Gaza fast running out of food, water and electricity, international pressure is mounting on the Gulf state to help secure their release.
Qatar’s working relationship with Hamas and its Oct. 7 statement holding Israel fully responsible for the escalation of violence have sparked public outrage in the United States, but analysts see the emirate as an important player in efforts to mediate the conflict.
Qatari leaders were instrumental in securing the release of the Israeli hostages. Qatari officials helped broker a deal for the release of two Israeli women held by Hamas on Monday — days after he negotiated the release of mother-daughter pair Judith and Natalie Raanan.
FILE – Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, then his country’s foreign minister, speaks during a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq, March. 24, 2021.
Qatar has long had good relations with the US. The gas-rich emirate hosts a large US military presence, one of the largest in the region, at Al Udeid Air Base. The base was built in 1996, and it received American recognition in 2002, when then Vice President Dick Cheney visited.
US relations with the country date back to 1972 and are centered on issues of regional security, energy and education. Qatar cooperates with the US military in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism, conducting operations as far away as the Horn of Africa.
After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, Qatar’s role in coordinating the safe exit of tens of thousands of people — including American citizens and contractors — was invaluable to the U.S. government.
Almost 40% of all evacuees were exported via Qatar. In the years leading up to the Taliban takeover, Qatar played a key role in holding meetings between US officials and members of the Taliban in the capital Doha, chaired by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. Although the talks ultimately failed, they demonstrated US reliance on Qatar as a key mediator.
FILE – Taliban officials are pictured in a hotel lobby during talks in Doha, Qatar, Aug. 12, 2021.
For these and other efforts, US President Joe Biden designated Qatar as a major non-NATO ally in March 2022.
“I am making this designation in recognition of Qatar’s longstanding contribution to US-led efforts in the US Central Command area of responsibility and in recognition of our national interest in deepening bilateral defense and security cooperation with the State of Qatar,” the president wrote in a letter to Congress.
Recently, Qatar facilitated the release of five American prisoners in Iran, as well as the release of Ukrainian children held by Russia.
Qatar started creating its role as a credible mediator many years ago.
In 2008, when Hezbollah took over key infrastructure installations in Lebanon, including the airport and major seaports, it was Qatar that brought the Shiite group and its Western-backed opponents to the negotiating table. The talks resulted in the Doha agreement, which prevented the crisis from escalating and pushing Lebanon into a new civil war.
Qatar’s working relationships with traditional US adversaries such as Iran and Russia – or non-state groups such as Hamas and the Taliban – have made it an invaluable partner for the US and other Western countries.
“Qatar has been a very close partner with the United States on a wide range of issues that are critical to both of our countries and to this region — from working together to evacuate Americans, Afghans and others from Afghanistan, to working very closely to respond to humanitarian emergencies such as devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a press conference in Doha on October 13.
Analysts say Qatar’s ability to maintain good relations with both non-state armed groups and state actors such as Russia and Iran, while still a strategic partner of the United States, will continue to increase its importance on the global stage.
“Qatar is framing this achievement — and the accompanying praise from the US — as evidence that it is correct in its strategy of keeping the lines of communication open with multiple opposing actors. Its role in the current conflict is a boost to its geopolitical ambitions,” Lina Khatib, Director of the SOAS Institute for the Middle East at SOAS University in London, she wrote in an article this week for Barron’s. She is also a fellow at Chatham House.
Others say ties to groups such as Hamas will lead to greater respect for Qatar, the world’s third-largest exporter of natural gas and home to just 300,000 citizens.
“It’s a double-edged sword, and the Qataris must have the right message, because although the Americans have expressed their gratitude and are earning points from the US, their image remains bruised,” Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, said in interview with the Financial Times.
