Gaza is scarred by poverty. But Hamas leaders live a life of luxury in Qatar

Palestinians in Gaza are in a grim situation amid Israel’s war with Hamas. The enclave’s only power station ran out of fuel last week, and there is also a shortage of water, food and other basic necessities. Hospitals are overwhelmed as injured and bodies keep rising up amid Israel’s relentless airstrikes on Gaza.

However, there might be some relief in sight after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday (18 October) that his country will lift a part of its blockade of Gaza at the request of United States president Joe Biden during his visit to the West Asian nation. According to the US, Egypt has agreed to open a border crossing into Gaza to let in some humanitarian aid.

The plight of Gaza’s impoverished civilians amid Israel’s war with Hamas has also put the spotlight on the contrasting lives led by the Palestinian movement’s leaders away from the densely populated enclave.

Let’s take a closer look.

Who is Ismail Haniyeh?

Ismail Haniyeh is widely regarded as Hamas’s overall leader. He has often come under fire for living in comfort and luxury while millions of Gazans suffer daily due to the blockade of the Strip by Israel since 2007.

But before we delve into Haniyeh’s lifestyle, let’s understand who he is.

A key member of the Hamas movement in the late 1980s, Haniyeh was appointed Palestinian prime minister in 2006 by President Mahmoud Abbas after Hamas swept national elections in Gaza.

However, Haniyeh was removed from his position after Hamas ousted Abbas’ Fatah party from the Gaza Strip in a brief civil conflict. Dismissing his sacking as “unconstitutional”, Haniyeh declared his government “would not abandon its national responsibilities towards the Palestinian people”, and continued to remain in power in Gaza, as per BBC.

In 2017, he became head of Hamas’ political bureau. The following year, Haniyeh was designated a terrorist by the US Department of State.

Haniyeh left Gaza in 2019 for a “temporary foreign tour” as per Hamas, reported The Arab Weekly. Since then, he has reportedly been residing in Qatar.

Hamas leaders in Qatar

Haniyeh grabbed headlines soon after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on 7 October. According to The Times of Israel, a video surfaced of Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders in an office in the Qatari capital Doha watching the news about the assault on a large-screen television and then “prostrating in gratitude”.

As CBC News noted, “This episode served as a reminder that while innocent civilians in Gaza die in their hundreds from aerial bombing and tens of thousands more are rendered homeless, Hamas’ leaders exist above the fray in air-conditioned comfort 2,000 kilometres away as guests of (Qatar’s) Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.”

Qatar has been playing a host to several Hamas leaders, who also have a political office in Doha.

Haniyeh was able to grow his wealth owing to his control of Gaza’s economy while serving in the Hamas government, including through taxes imposed on goods imported into the Strip from Egypt, reported The Times of Israel.

According to a 2014 report on the Israeli news site Ynet, senior Hamas leaders, including Haniyeh, levied a 20 per cent tax on all trade passing through the tunnels built in Gaza.

The Hamas government’s taxes on imports, exports, businesses and tobacco has been opposed by Palestinian civilians who say it adds to their plight. However, Hamas security forces have cracked down on these protests, reported The Arab Weekly. 

In 2010, Haniyeh purchased a plot of land for $4 million on the Gazan beachfront near the Shati refugee camp, which he registered under his son-in-law’s name, The Times of Israel reported citing Egyptian magazine Rose al-Yusuf.

He owns many apartments, villas and buildings in the Gaza Strip, registered under his some of his 13 children’s names. In 2021, a video circulated online showed Haniyeh playing soccer on a trimmed field under the glass skyscrapers of Qatar, as per The Arab Weekly report. Another footage showed him donning a tailored suit, accompanied by bodyguards, and being welcomed by Qatari dignitaries at a red-carpet event, the report added.

According to the United Nations, 81 percent of the Gazan population is living in poverty. About 70 per cent of youth in Gaza are unemployed, reported Al Jazeera. The Strip also frequently suffers from power cuts.

It’s not just top Hamas leaders’ swanky lifestyle outside Gaza that has laid bare the gap between them and millions of Palestinians in the Strip.

Citing the Saudi news website Elaph’s 2022 article, The Times of Israel reported that Haniyeh’s son Maaz, known as “The Father of Real Estate” in Gaza, secured a Turkish passport, which enabled him to easily leave Gaza and travel abroad, as well as invest in properties in Turkey.

Due to the blockades imposed by Israel and Egypt, it is very difficult for Palestinians to leave Gaza. Israel denies access to and from Gaza by sea and air as well as Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings.

The Egypt-controlled Rafah crossing, the only option for most Gazans to exit the Strip, is available for those who can shell out high fees or have connections to Egyptian officials, The Arab Weekly reported.

Even then, there is a lengthy permit process for ordinary Palestinians.

Why is Qatar hosting Hamas leaders?

Hotels and villas in Qatar are housing Hamas leaders for years. Even after the recent terror attack by Hamas’ militants on Israel, Doha defended the presence of the group’s political leaders on its soil.

In a written statement to CBC News, Qatar’s embassy in Ottawa said: “Regarding the Hamas office in Doha, it has been used from the beginning as a channel of communication and a means to bring peace to the region and that is in coordination with our western allies, particularly the United States”.

Qatar has also sent hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Gaza which has facilitated the Hamas-run government to pay its civil servants.

An expert has explained Qatar’s foreign policy. Speaking to CBC News, Thomas Juneau, an expert in Middle Eastern politics at the University of Ottawa, said that the oil-rich Gulf nation’s identity and brand is based on the “idea that it talks to everyone.”

“It talks to the Taliban, it talks to Hamas, it talks to Libyan rebels, and so on.

“And its logic is that as a small vulnerable state, by being indispensable, by having all of these networks, all of these contacts, the US needs it and it works for it. On a regular basis, the US becomes frustrated by that, and if I had to guess, I would say that the US is frustrated by the fact that some of Hamas’s political leadership is in Qatar right now.

“That’s true. But when the US needs to talk to Hamas, when the US needs to talk to the Taliban, then Qatar becomes extremely useful,” Juneau told CBC News. 

With inputs from agencies