“US Backlash: How The Obama-Era Deal With Qatar to Open a Hamas Office Went Awry”.

The Obama-era political agreement between Qatar and Hamas, the militant Palestinian movement, has disastrously backfired on the United States, as experts warn. The 2011 deal, brokered in the wake of the Arab Spring and called the Doha Agreement, granted the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, the right to form an office in Qatar. The deal was seen as an effort to create an exit point for the group and bolster negotiations between the Western-supported Palestinian Authority and Hamas. However, since the agreement was enacted, Qatar has become to some extent a safe haven for Hamas and supports its continued existence. According to a paper published by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, the US’s goal of a peaceful two-state solution is less likely to be achieved. Instead, the agreement between Qatar and Hamas has allowed the Islamist movement to operate freely in Qatar and operate with a high level of financial and logistical support from Qatar. Qatar has long held contentious ties with the US, but the support of Hamas in Qatar has taken on additional characters, as it appears to have boosted political interactions between Qatari officials and the militant Palestinian movement, something which the US and other countries have consistently opposed. The paper’s authors note that the US has desperately attempted to contain Hamas and other Islamist factions in the region, in order to avoid any escalation of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians. But with Qatar openly allowing Hamas’ presence within its country since 2011, the militant group has seemingly been given a safe haven. It appears that the agreement has not only backfired on the United States, but on other Western-backed entities in the region as well. Reports released by international organizations such as the International Crisis Group and the Security Council have warned of how Hamas has used their newfound foothold in Qatar to increase military investments within the Gaza Strip and launch money laundering schemes to support their operations. The Doha Agreement is further contentious given its violation of two United Nations Security Council resolutions, causing tensions between the US and Qatar to grow. As a result, experts caution that the consequences of the agreement could have long-term ramifications for US foreign policy in the Middle East, the peace process in the region, and the risk of increased violence.