Qatari opposition warns: Israeli strike in Doha shows 'support for terrorism endangers Qatar'

Khalid al-Hail, a Qatari opposition activist exiled in London and wanted by the authorities in his country, spoke this Saturday evening with KAN News about his efforts to challenge the regime in Doha.

In a special interview broadcast in full on the Saturday news program, al-Hail warned his country’s leadership that the Israeli strike in Doha is only the first sign – and that continued support for Hamas and terror organizations will lead the Gulf emirate to ruin. “There was an attack from Iran and an Israeli attack. We know there will be more attacks in the future. The Qatari people are very worried,” he said.

“The Hamas leadership lives in hotels in Qatar and conducts negotiations, while the people in Gaza and Palestine suffer every single day because of Hamas and because of the Qatari regime,” he claimed. According to him, Qatari mediation is dependent on Hamas’s presence: “There is no Qatari mediation without a terror organization supported by Qatar. Qatar tells the West it is a mediator and an ally of the United States, but the problem now is that these terror groups have been supported by Qatar since it was founded until today.”

He added that Qatar behaves like a double agent in its international relations: “Qatar tells the United States, ‘we have ties with so-and-so,’ and the Americans see them as terrorists. What does the Qatari regime do? They spy on both sides and pass information – from the Americans to the terrorists, and from the terrorists to the Americans – while at the same time shielding those terror organizations.”

Al-Hail sought to deliver a message to the Qatari authorities. “The regime must place the citizen’s interest at the top of its priorities. There are things even the Americans won’t tell you. The state faces a great danger. The first blow has come, and it is a warning. We warned of it before it happened, and now I am telling you there will be further attacks if you do not respect your international obligations not to support terrorism," he said.

The opposition activist, who has lived in exile for more than a decade, described the regime in Doha as monarchical and anti-democratic: “They ended democracy and public participation. They have supported terrorism for years. They turned the citizens into strangers in their own country. The Qatari people today stand emotionally with the regime, because the Israeli strike united some ranks in Qatar – even among the opposition – but in the end, what comes next? Israel will not stop.”

“What happened on October 7 was a crime against civilians, and the attack destroyed the resistance project. I believe the future should belong to everyone. The United States must set limits for the Qatari regime and put an end to the terrorist ideology, because I and other Qataris do not accept that there are terror organizations inside Qatar. Qatari citizens do not accept the presence of Hamas leaders in Qatar, nor will we agree to the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood leadership. We want to be a neutral state.”

Al-Hail emphasized that he is not alone: “They [the regime] brought democracy to an end and destroyed it out of fear for their throne. I am absolutely certain that if we began operating as a national democratic Qatari party inside the country, many of these notions would change.”

He is more optimistic than ever about the possibility of returning to Qatar. “I am more confident today than I was yesterday.”