CNN –
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the Gulf state of Qatar has been criticized by Israeli officials, American politicians and the media for sending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Gaza, which is ruled by the Palestinian militant group.
But all of this happened with the blessing of Israel.
In a series of interviews CNN was told that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to flow money to Hamas despite concerns raised by his own government.
Qatar has promised not to stop these payments. Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi told CNN's Becky Anderson on Monday that his government would continue making payments to Gaza to support the enclave, as it has done for years.
“We will not change our mandate. Our mission is our continued help and support to our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We will continue to do it systematically as we have done so far,” Al-Khulaifi said.
Israeli sources responded by pointing out that successive governments had facilitated the transfer of money to Gaza for humanitarian reasons and that Netanyahu had taken strong action against Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks.
Here's what we know about these payments and Israel's role in making them possible.
In 2018, Qatar began making monthly payments to the Gaza Strip. About $15 million was sent to Gaza in suitcases filled with cash – delivered by the Qataris after months of negotiations with Israel over Israeli territory.
The payments began after the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Palestinian government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is a rival to Hamas, decided in 2017 to cut the salaries of government employees in Gaza, an Israeli government source familiar with the matter told CNN at the time.
The Palestinian Authority at the time rejected Qatari funding, which Hamas said was intended to pay public salaries as well as for medical purposes.
Israel approved the deal at a security cabinet meeting in August 2018, when Netanyahu was serving his previous term as prime minister.
Even then, Netanyahu was criticized by his coalition partners for the deal and his too soft behavior towards Hamas.
The prime minister defended the initiative at the time, saying the agreement was “made in coordination with security experts to restore calm to the (Israeli) villages in the south, but also to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe (in Gaza).”
Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the West Bank Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee, accused the United States of orchestrating the payment.
Israeli and international media have reported that Netanyahu's plan to continue allowing aid flows to Gaza via Qatar was made in the hopes of making Hamas an effective counterweight to the Palestinian Authority and preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Palestinian Authority officials said at the time that the cash transfers had fueled divisions between Palestinian factions.
Major General Amos Gilad, a former senior Israeli Defense Ministry official, told CNN the plan was supported by the prime minister but not by Israeli intelligence. It was also believed that it would “weaken Palestinian sovereignty,” he said. There is also the illusion, he added, that “if you feed them (Hamas) money, they will be tamed.”
Alex Platt/CNN
Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, a former senior Israeli Defense Ministry official, speaks to CNN in Tel Aviv on Dec. 5.
Shlomo Brom, a former deputy Israeli national security adviser, told the New York Times that an empowered Hamas helped Netanyahu avoid negotiations on a Palestinian state and said the division among Palestinians helped him make the case for not wanting one Partners for peace have Palestinians and thus avoids pressure for peace talks that could lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli prime minister, told CNN on Sunday that after years of raising concerns with the Netanyahu government as education minister, he stopped cash transfers when he became prime minister in 2021.
“I stopped the suitcases of cash because I believe that this terrible mistake – allowing Hamas to have all these suitcases full of cash – leads directly to a regrouping against the Israelis. “Why should we give them money to kill us?” Bennett asked.
Cash payments stopped, but money transfers to Gaza continued under Bennett's leadership, according to The New York Times.
An Israeli official told CNN that any claim that Netanyahu wanted to maintain a “moderately weakened” Hamas was “completely false” and that he had acted to weaken Hamas “significantly.”
“He led three massive military operations against Hamas that killed thousands of terrorists and senior Hamas commanders,” the official said. “Successive Israeli governments before, during and after the Netanyahu government enabled the flow of money to Gaza. Not to empower Hamas, but to prevent a humanitarian crisis by supporting critical infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, to prevent the spread of disease and enable daily life.”
Netanyahu has come under increasing criticism as his government's deep involvement in the move and its motivations come to light once again.
The financing agreement is one of the reasons why many Israelis today blame Netanyahu personally for the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th. Many people told CNN they believed allowing the payments made Hamas stronger and ultimately worsened the brutal attacks.
“The prime minister’s policy of treating the terrorist group as a partner at the expense of (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud) Abbas and Palestinian statehood has created wounds that will take Israel years to heal,” Tal Schneider wrote in an opinion piece in the Times of Israel on October 8, a day after Hamas' devastating attack.
Alex Platt/CNN
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett poses for a photo during an interview with CNN on November 10 in Tel Aviv.
Gilad, the former Israeli defense official, said he was among those who opposed allowing funds to flow to Hamas, saying the flow of funds allowed over the years was a “dramatic, tragic mistake.”
With the funds “they could take care of the population.” They could take care of military reinforcements and expand their capabilities,” Gilad said last week.
Criticism of Netanyahu among Israelis increased after the attack, with many blaming the prime minister for failing to prevent it.
Qatar has close ties with both Hamas and Western states, including the United States. It was sharply criticized for allowing the Iran-backed group to set up a political office in Doha, which has been in operation since 2012.
But it has also proven useful to Israel, playing a leading role in the release of the hostages kidnapped on October 7 and held by Hamas in Gaza.
However, some Israeli officials have suggested that Qatar was one of those responsible for the attack, saying the Gulf Arab state supports Hamas.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in October accused Qatar of funding Hamas and harboring its leaders.
“Qatar, which funds and harbors Hamas leaders, could influence and facilitate the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by the terrorists. “You, members of the international community, should demand exactly that from Qatar,” Cohen told a high-level UN -Meet.
Qatar has rejected Israeli officials' accusations, warning that “these provocative statements” could undermine mediation efforts and even “endanger lives.”
Gilad also blamed Qatar, saying the Gulf state “gave Hamas 1 billion shekels a year ($30 million a month) … and they used it to strengthen and consolidate their influence in Gaza.” For them ( Hamas) it was like a relief. It was like oxygen,” he told CNN.
Qatar denies that these funds were intended for Hamas and says they were intended to help pay the salaries of workers in the besieged enclave.
The Gulf state, which is home to a large US air base, has also come under pressure in Congress. A bipartisan group of 113 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Oct. 16 urging him to pressure countries that support Hamas, including Qatar.
Al-Khulaifi, the Qatari minister leading his country's mediation in the Israel-Hamas war, said that his country “will continue to work with regional and international partners to ensure that these resources reach the most vulnerable and needy.” vital infrastructure.”