Israeli ‘influence campaign against Qatar’ launched after October 7 attack

What the report says

According to Al Jazeera, citing a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, a secret Israeli influence effort targeting Qatar was launched in the days after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel. The report says the group included political advisers, influence specialists and a former Mossad official, and that roughly 30 people were recruited to support the project. It was later halted after about a month.

The campaign, described as an attempt to pressure Qatar over its ties to Hamas, reportedly aimed to build international pressure on Doha so it would push Hamas toward releasing the Israeli captives taken into Gaza on October 7. Haaretz said the effort involved a WhatsApp group called Free the Kidnapped, along with a multilingual website, social media accounts, videos, journalist outreach and media appearances. The report also said some participants used messaging that framed Hamas as equivalent to ISIS.

Qatar has long served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas and has hosted Hamas’s political office since 2012. Al Jazeera noted that Qatari officials have denied allegations that Doha funds Hamas, saying its aid has been transparent and intended for people in Gaza. The article places the reported campaign in the broader context of the war in Gaza and the wider information battle around Qatar’s role in negotiations and hostage releases.