Hundreds protest in front of Qatari Embassy in Washington

CAIRO – 29 September 2017: Hundreds of Jews staged a demonstration outside the Qatari Embassy in Washington on Thursday to protest Doha’s support of Hamas, the Islamist terror organization controling Gaza.

The demonstrators called on Qatar to use its influence on Hamas to push for returning the remains of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, two Israeli soldiers who were killed in the 2014 Gaza War and whose bodies were held there ever since.

The protest was organized by Jewish organizations in Washington that reject Qatar's support of Hamas' attempt to use the remains of the soldiers to force a prisoner swap with Israel.

Qatar was hit by its biggest diplomatic crisis in years, after Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain cut ties with it, accusing it of destabilizing the region with its support of Islamist groups.

The Arab quartet halted all land, air and sea traffic with Qatar and withdrew their diplomats and ambassadors from the Qatari peninsula. The Arab quartet issued 13 demands to Doha — then shortened them to six principles — including closing Al Jazeera television, curbing relations with Iran and shutting a Turkish military base in Qatar.