Qatar, Iran, Turkey and beyond: The galaxy of Hamas supporters

Iran on Sunday warned Israel of escalation if it failed to end aggressions against the Palestinians, with the Islamic Republic's foreign minister saying other parties in the region were ready to act.

"If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger," Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to "demolish Hamas" as his military prepared to move into the Gaza Strip in search of Islamist militants whose deadly rampage through Israeli border towns shocked the world. Iran has been quite vocal about its support to Hamas.

Shedding light on the role that Iran has to play in backing Hamas, France24 wrote, “On a public level, Iran supports the Palestinian national cause, with marked support for Hamas.” Moreover, as per a report in Al-jazeera, Iran paid $70 million to the Palestinian group to help with the development of missiles. Apart from this, there has been a transfer of Iranian technology that adds in the support to the military. 

“This consists of providing expertise in producing drones and modifying civilian drones into military drones. But it can also mean delivering munitions and weapons that pass through the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt,” the publication noted. 

Along with Iran, there are a few other countries that have been backing Hamas as well.

Amirabdollahian met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday in Qatar, where they discussed the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack in Israel "and agreed to continue cooperation" to achieve the group's goals, the Iran-backed Hamas said in a statement. 

Hamas is reportedly backed by Doha when it comes to finances, reported France24. 

 “These payments are justified to pay civil servants in Gaza, and we know perfectly well that the latter are members of Hamas. Doha’s money is therefore the equivalent of direct support for this organisation which has held the Palestinian enclave with an iron fist for many years,” said deputy director of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS).

According to a report in a French newspaper, the finacial support had begun five years ago with an intention to avoid a “major” humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The publication also noted that Qatar’s links with Hamas were beyond just financial, since Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of Hamas has been staying in Doha since 2012. 

“In addition to hosting certain prominent leaders of Hamas’s political branch, Doha also immediately positioned itself as a negotiator on the issue of Israeli hostages in recent days. This indirectly boosts the role of the small Gulf monarchy,” read the report. 

Turkey’s support is more political in nature as the country has tried to maintain ties with both Hamas and Palestine authorities. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that Israel's blockade and bombing of Gaza in retaliation for Palestinian militant group Hamas's attack was a disproportionate response amounting to a "massacre".

Even before the war, President Erdogan last year said “establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital within the 1967 borders based on UN parameters is essential for the peace and stability of our entire region", as per a media report. 

Turkey has offered to play the role of a mediator in the Israel-Hamas war. 

While Egypt makes it to the list of countries supporting Hamas in terms of its support due to their historical links owing to the Muslim Brotherhood (an Islamic organisation in Egypt), their ties have weakened ever since Hamas tried to take advantage of the tunnel bypassing the Egyptian border towards Gaza for illegal imports. Just like Turkey, Egypt too has positioned itself as a mediator in the ongoing conflict. However, on October 10, Egypt’s president said that his country would not allow Palestinians to flee the bombardment of Gaza and seek refuge in his country, closing off the only evacuation route for civilians seeking to heed Israel’s warning and leave.

So far, at least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since Oct 7, the enclave's health ministry said on Monday.