Qatar burnishes role as 'essential' hostage negotiator with Israel-Hamas deal
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00:00 Qatar has become the lead mediator in the Middle East.
00:04 Its strategy in the recent Israel-Gaza conflict has been to reach out to all sides.
00:10 Western countries like the US, France and the UK have no direct links with Hamas and
00:15 have labelled it a terrorist organisation and have turned to Qatar as their key negotiator
00:20 in this conflict.
00:22 In this particular instance I want to thank the government of Qatar for their very important
00:27 assistance.
00:28 On October 13th, Doha welcomed the US Secretary of State who was on a whistle-stop tour of
00:33 the Middle East.
00:34 The next day Hamas and Iranian officials also met in the Qatari capital.
00:39 The Gulf state has also been at the heart of multiple talks on the release of hostages
00:43 and humanitarian pauses in Gaza, most recently in the meeting with the Mossad chief David
00:49 Bania and CIA director William Burns who visited the Qatari Prime Minister.
00:54 Qatar has positioned itself after the Arab Spring as a mediator and a hub for basically
00:59 building networks, connecting different actors that would not be able to meet directly.
01:04 The Gulf state is leading a careful balancing act.
01:07 It hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, whilst Hamas' political office
01:12 sits just a few kilometres away in Doha, where it has been located since 2012.
01:18 The state has been accused of financing terrorism and it also has a deal with Hamas to provide
01:23 funding for its civil servants.
01:27 Our salaries are paid by the government of Qatar and we're thankful for that.
01:32 Qatari aid also extends to the Gaza population.
01:35 Its government built new housing units to replace those destroyed in Israeli airstrikes
01:40 and has sent humanitarian aid to the Strip.
01:43 Qatar Fund has sent medical aid and food items for our brothers in Gaza.
01:50 Israel has tacitly allowed Qatar to funnel money into Gaza, but the Jewish state's strategy
01:55 has ultimately proved to be a failure.