Majed Al-Ansari, a spox of the Qatari foreign government, backed equipped fighting and enormous rocket attacks on Israel in the 2021 column.
A Qatari group that included an established who has praised Hamas jihadists and demanded missile strikes on Israel was facilitated by the State Department next month.
A high-level committee met with senior State Department officials in March, and Majed Muhammad Al-Ansari, the spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry and its prime minister’s director, to meet with him. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute ( MEMRI), a watchdog organization that monitors extremist rhetoric, Al-Ansari, a one-time newspaper columnist, “expressed total support for armed struggle against Israel and for massive rocket attacks on it” as recently as 2021.
Al-Ansari was posing with Bill Russo, an assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, second to him. The Qatari executive’s involvement in high- level political talks with the United States signals that Doha’s continued support for Hamas—whose top leadership lives in the country —is never viewed as an obstacle to the U. S. Qatar relationship. Even though Doha’s impartiality in the fight is questioned on Capitol Hill, the Biden administration still relies on Qatar to negotiate a hostage-negotiation agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Al- Ansari, in a 2021 row published after a flurry of missile attacks by Hamas, celebrated “victory” over” the Zionist enemy”, Israel, and said that military weight against the Hebrew state is the only way to ensure” the removal of the occupation”, according to a language of the essay by MEMRI.
The Qatari minister continued,” Turning up the hope that he lives long enough to witness the independence of Al-Aqsa Mosque and all the wonderful land,” making reference to the Muslim location in Jerusalem.
Discussing the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas, Al- Ansari wrote,” the entity]Israel ] was entirely under the threat of the Palestinian missiles. The Arab citizens of Israel, who were in the interior, joined the occupation and the global forums were roiling with discussion against the hostility, adhering to the myth that the Tel Aviv regime was an apartheid regime.
” The entity”, he added, “was in a state of great social shame, and was forced to end its anger with no compromise on the part of the Palestinians”.
The “victory celebration in this most recent battle” was referred to as a sign of” continued progress toward success in the fight, since there is a significant difference between weight with stones and bare trunks and weight in which 3, 000 rockets are launched into the institution’s towns in 10 days,” according to Al-Ansari.
When questioned about Al- Ansari’s involvement in the Qatari delegation’s new meetings with the Biden administration, a State Department official declined to comment.
A State Department spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon,” We do not comment on private diplomatic discussions,” adding that” Qatar is an unreliable mediator in the current conflict between Israel and Hamas and has already helped secure the release of more than 100 hostages, including American citizens.”
The Biden administration, the official said, continues” to work with Qatar to pursue an agreement for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to enable the release of all hostages, safeguard civilians, and expand the provision of critical aid to Gaza”. Qatar is also being made clear that” there can be no business as usual with Hamas,” according to U.S. officials.
During the U. S. Qatar Strategic Dialogue in March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Qatar’s foreign affairs and prime ministers. According to the State Department, the discussion centered on” the breadth and depth of the 50-year U.S. Qatar relationship, from economic and security cooperation to emerging technology and fostering connections between cities and communities between both countries.” It was the working group’s sixth meeting.
Qatar and its state-controlled media outlets have praised Hamas and called for more attacks on Israel since the terror attack on October 7, putting into question its leadership as a top mediator in the conflict with Israel.
” The Qatari press regularly prints articles, reports, and cartoons expressing hope for Israel’s demise, which refer to the country as a’ Western product’ or as a’ Zionist- Crusader’ and ‘ imperialist’ enterprise and contend that only more operations like the October 7 attack will stop it from realizing its plan to expand’ from the Nile to the Euphrates,'” according to MEMRI, which has  , published , reports/anti-american-cartoons-qatari-press-us-unreservedly-supports-bloodshed-gaza-will-be” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>multiple , reports about incitement in the Qatari press.
Lawmakers urged the Biden administration to “make clear to Qatar that it will be held accountable for every hostage not brought home” after the country’s opposition to a hostage deal and financial ties to Hamas earlier this year. Qatar’s failure to deliver on its commitments will harm bilateral relations”.
