Following failure in withholding Hamas, now is Doha's chance to rebrand - comment

• Published date: 06 April 2024
• Author: OHAD MERLIN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The international community has long forgotten these atrocities which started the war in the first place, gradually shifting to demand of Israel to stop fighting those who pledged to commit the same horrors against it again and again

Some have even indulged themselves in the largest gaslighting campaign in the world, blatantly denying some of the most documented crimes in history and destroying posters calling for the release of innocent hostages aged from as young as one to as old as 86.

The fact that the leaders of Hamas oversaw the entire operation from their fancy five-star hotels in Doha is known. And that the Qatari government never thought of showing an ounce of introspection, uttering a word of apology, or even partly condemning the massacre committed by the criminal organization they have been empowering and harboring for decades – is sadly not very surprising, either.

Yet now, for some reason, the world looks to Doha as if it is the messiah who will bring about the release of the Israeli hostages, human beings who are being abused daily – physically, mentally, and sexually – by the same captors who only just recently have murdered their families and neighbors.

It must be stressed that responsibility for the lives of our hostages largely lies in the hands of Doha (putting aside the sadistic terrorists holding them in the tunnels). From a redheaded one year old baby to an 86-year-old grandfather - the responsibility to all of these innocent lives lies on the shoulders of the sheikh, depending on his level of creativity in pressuring the leaders of the fanatic religious extremist group. After all, the Hamas leaders' safe haven in Doha hotels is within reach of the royal palace.

This is because Qatar has many tools to pressure Hamas; they simply need to apply them. They can freeze accounts, nationalize assets, downgrade the terrorist leaders to economy class, or, heavens forbid, buy them a Subaru instead of a BMW.

For all we know, they can take Hamas leaders into a dark alley and tell them that there's no going out until the hostages are released now. The sheikh can threaten to ban Hamas leaders from the country forever. He can threaten them by turning his gargantuan propaganda machine against them and shame them on an international level.

Where there is a will, there is a way. The only question remains: is there such a will?

In this context, it is necessary to stress in the strongest possible way that a deal featuring the release of convicted...