According to a report by the Israeli daily Haaretz, a clandestine influence operation targeting Qatar was organized by Israeli experts and political advisers in the weeks immediately following the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. The initiative sought to leverage international pressure on Doha to compel Qatar to influence Hamas into releasing the 251 hostages taken to Gaza.
Approximately 30 individuals, including specialists in psychological warfare and influence operations, were recruited for the project. Operating through a WhatsApp group named “Free the Kidnapped,” established days after the assault, the group aimed to shape global public opinion. Haaretz noted that the identities of the campaign’s initiators are protected under publication bans.
The operation involved raising donations, producing video content, contacting journalists, and securing media appearances. A multilingual website and social media profiles were also created. Internal messages revealed efforts to quantify Qatar’s financial support to Hamas, with one participant labeling Qatar as “Qatar-ISIS Ltd.” The slogan “Hamas is ISIS” was subsequently adopted on the campaign’s digital platforms. The group also included a former Mossad official.
Despite these efforts, the campaign was abruptly discontinued after roughly a month. One participant told Haaretz, “After a while, it was shut down. We stopped dealing with the Qatar campaign. I never heard anything more about the campaign.”
Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that similar anti-Qatar campaigns have been observed over the past three years. He suggested the operation may have been outsourced or gone underground rather than fully terminated, noting that such campaigns are unlikely to exist without the motivation of an actor like Israel.
Qatar has served as a primary mediator between Hamas and Israel since the outbreak of war in Gaza. While Israeli officials have conducted indirect negotiations in Doha, tensions escalated when Israel struck a meeting of Hamas negotiators in Qatar on September 9, killing six people, including a Qatari national. The attack drew condemnation from France and the United Kingdom, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later apologized.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has consistently denied allegations that Qatar funds Hamas, stating that all aid has been transparent and directed toward civilians in Gaza with full awareness of the United States and facilitation by Israel. Doha has hosted Hamas’s political office since 2012, a decision Qatari officials attribute to a request from the United States.
Since October 2023, Israeli military operations in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of more than 73,700 Palestinians and injured nearly 4,700 others, according to the report. Although a ceasefire agreement was reached the month after the September strike, Haaretz states that Israel has violated the truce hundreds of times.
This reveals the complex, often hidden layers of information warfare in the Middle East. A fascinating and troubling look at how public opinion is manipulated.
I find it hard to believe it just ‘stopped.’ As the professor noted, these campaigns often go underground rather than ending. Skeptical about the total halt.
Calling Qatar ‘Qatar-ISIS Ltd’ is a bold rhetorical strategy. Do you think labeling a key mediator as a terrorist org actually helped the hostage negotiations?
It is alarming to think covert campaigns can operate this openly via WhatsApp groups. The line between advocacy and psychological warfare seems dangerously thin here.