Residents of the Nour Shams Palestinian refugee camp watch their homes being demolished on New Year's Eve by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Nour Shams camp, east of Tulkarem city in the northern West Bank occupied by Israel, on Dec. 31, 2025. (Credit: Zain Jaafar/AFP)
In September 2023, a month before Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack in Israel, Israel reportedly asked Qatar to increase the amount of funds transferred to the Palestinian movement in the Gaza Strip, following threats of violent escalation.
According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth in an article published Friday, this request was conveyed on behalf of the Israeli government by several senior security officials, including the former head of the Shin Bet's district and the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
It was addressed to Qatar’s envoy to Gaza, Mohammad al-Emadi, during a meeting held at a hotel in Jerusalem in early September 2023.
For several years, Emadi has overseen the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas, with the approval of successive Israeli governments.
An investigation by the New York Times, published in December 2023, had already revealed that Israel had requested that Doha continue these transfers.
However, this would allegedly be the first time Israel explicitly requested a direct increase in Qatari funds sent to Hamas.
The report states that about a month before this meeting, a senior Qatari official traveled to Gaza to meet Yahya Sinwar, then Hamas chief, and other movement leaders, in order to prepare talks with Israeli authorities.
After this visit, Qatar reportedly informed Israel that Hamas said it was interested in maintaining calm and stability.
During this meeting, Sinwar reportedly requested increased fuel deliveries to Gaza’s power station for August and September, citing the summer heat.
He also reportedly requested that Qatar-funded fuel purchases from Egypt increase from $3 million to $7 million per month.
According to messages sent, the Qatari diplomat later told Hamas that Doha was not willing to accept these demands.
Since the end of 2021, to avoid direct cash transfers to Hamas, Qatar was buying fuel in Egypt and delivering it to Hamas authorities in Gaza as a donation.
Hamas then resold the fuel to local gas stations. While the amounts have varied between $3 million and $10 million per month — and one might think the fund transfers were meant to address the dire situation of Palestinians in Gaza — the profits generated were significant and were used in particular to pay the salaries of Hamas civil servants.
While David Barnea, head of the Mossad, as well as Ronen Bar, director of Shin Bet, and his predecessor, Nadav Argaman, reportedly opposed the Qatari funds transfers to Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have favored maintaining close cooperation with Qatar.
The Prime Minister's Office, the Shin Bet, and the Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories declined to comment on these reports.
