Qatar asks Hamas members to leave its territories

CAIRO – 4 June 2017: Qatar authorities have submitted a list to the Hamas Movement of members’ names who should leave Qatari territories, pro-Hezbollah al-Mayadeen channel reported anonymous diplomatic sources as saying on Saturday.

A Qatari diplomat met with prominent members of Hamas and handed them a list of members who should leave Qatar due to “foreign pressure” on the oil-rich state, the sources added. They noted that the members’ names were mentioned in investigations with Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons.

On May 24, Qatari news agency published alleged remarks stated by Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani that his country has “warm relations” with Israel. He also alleged that Hamas is the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, asserting that Iran is part of the Islamic world and has heavy political weight in the region. However, an official from the Qatari ruling family denied the statement and said the news agency had been hacked.

In this statement, Tamim also directed a message to four Arab countries - Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain - that “being hostile to Iran is unwise.”

The Emir’s alleged remarks came following the American-Arab-Islamic summit, which was held in Riyadh between Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, U.S. President Donald Trump, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

The four leaders announced their integrated efforts to fight terrorism in the region and the world, agreeing on confronting the growing Iranian threat in the Middle East; they inaugurated “Aa’tidal” (moderation) Center to monitor and combat extremism.

Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, has been designated as a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S., the EU and the U.K.