Exclusive: Israel Asked Qatar to Boost Hamas Funding in September 2023

Meetings in Jerusalem reveal efforts to buy calm in Gaza shortly before the Hamas invasion; Qatar told Israel that Hamas does not want an escalation

In early September 2023, an important meeting took place at a hotel in Jerusalem. At that meeting, official Israeli representatives asked a senior Qatari official to increase the transfer of funds to Hamas in Gaza- funds that they knew, and that the Qatari knew, would not reach needy Palestinian families but rather Hamas’s own governing apparatus. Until…