Qatar state media urges Hamas to kidnap Israeli ‘rats’ in Gaza

Pro-Hamas journalists for the Islamist state of Qatar called for Hamas terrorists to capture Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in Gaza and praised Hamas’ violence against the IDF in late August.

The Qatari regime’s push via its state-controlled reporters to cheerlead Hamas efforts to kidnap Israeli soldiers coincides with a German Die Welt news report that the country’s main wire service—German Press Agency—has joined a controversial media project in the gas-rich non-democratic state.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) revealed on Monday that “Although Qatar is perceived by international elements and by the Israeli government as a mediator in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, the emirate's government press continues to express unreserved support for Hamas's terrorist activities and even calls on it to intensify them.”

Jaber Al-Harmi, editor of the Qatar government daily Al-Sharq, lauded on X on August 20 Hamas terrorists from its Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, who are seeking to kidnap IDF soldiers in Khan Younis in Gaza.

He wrote, according to a MEMRI translation of his post, that "Even if the Al-Qassam heroes failed to abduct Zionist soldiers this time around, the second, third or fourth attempts, Allah willing, will manage to add new rats to the number [of hostages] held by the heroes of the brigades… In today's attempt, during a high-quality raid on a new [Israeli] military position in Rafah [sic; the operation took place in Khan Younis], the Al-Qassam heroes managed to send several Zionist soldiers to hell, and good riddance. “

Al-Harmi continued "[They sent] several others to suffer torment in this world by [causing them] permanent disfigurement and disabilities, or [by sending them] to lunatic asylums. I strengthen the hands of the heroes, and may the hands of the impure criminals, riff raff from all over the world, become paralyzed."

After the MEMRI report, Al-Harmi deleted his pro-Hamas X post.

Dr. Ariel Admoni, a Qatar expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), told i24NEWS that “Unlike previous times, the editor of Al-Sharq deleted his tweet. I interpret this as a top-down order, as Qatar is afraid of being sidelined even further as a mediator, especially amid reports that the next meeting will not be held in Qatar (or Egypt).”

Qatar’s state-owned media has been filled with pro-Hamas reports since the terrorist organization massacred over 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023 and kidnapped more than 250 people.

The new spike in pro-Hamas articles in the Qatar state-owned media follows the August 20, 2025 operation carried out by Hamas in Khan Younis against an Israeli army location, including a Hamas attempt to kidnap Israeli soldiers.

Ihsan Al-Faqih wrote a column for the daily Al-Sharq on August 24 that the Hamas effort to abduct Israeli soldiers, according to a MEMRI translation of her article, "shocked Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his friends on the far right, confounded them, and upended the strategic military considerations of the Israeli leadership." She claimed that the Hamas kidnapping plan “ was the most prominent and forceful operation by the resistance since October 7, [2023], has many powerful meanings and implications," because it "proved that the resistance is still capable of taking the initiative."  

Former Al-Jazeera director Yasser Abu Hilala, who is close to the Qatari Emir's advisor Azmi Bishara, also praised Hamas ‘ campaign against Israel, writing: "This is an operation that will be studied in military academies. This is an operation that will be studied in departments of philosophy, psychology and history. These are the soldiers of Allah, who, after two years of total destruction, [still] emerge from the tunnels to abduct the soldiers of the enemy!..." 

The German paper Die Welt reported Monday that “Qatar is sponsoring Islamist propaganda and courting Western media with a new prestige project. The German Press Agency (dpa) is on board” and a former German-Palestinian politician from the Social Democratic Party, Sawsan Chebli, is serving as an advisor for the “Media City Qatar” project.

Chebli has faced criticism in Germany for her anti-Israel attacks on social media.

The Welt reported that Qatar’s regime seeks to attract Western media outlets to Doha as an “influence strategy” to improve its reportedly battered image. Qatar has been accused by US-lawmakers and Mideast experts, such as the founder and president of MEMRI, Yigal Carmon, as being a top state-sponsor of Islamist terrorism. Human rights groups have slammed Qatar for failing to address its appalling human rights records. Qatar permits the executions of gays based on its Sharia law system. Press freedoms and civil liberties are largely non-existent in Qatar and criticism of the Qatari ruling Aal-Thani family by Qatari outlets is not permitted.

The dpa told Welt it chooses international locations "solely for editorial reasons” and that “As a neutral news agency, we do not comment on the conditions in the countries where we operate."

According to a statement from the project, ”The Media City Qatar and the German Press Agency (dpa) have signed a collaboration agreement to establish a regional editorial hub. This partnership strengthens Qatar’s role as a leading media platform and enhances news coverage across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Operations are set to begin in June 2025 and will continue for an initial period of five years.”

In 2017, the dpa was embroiled in an antisemitism scandal. The Hamburg-based DPA wrote, “Trump was elevated onto the throne by influential Jewish party sponsors.” Chris Melzer, a spokesman for dpa, said at the time that “the article should not have been published and we regret that.”

Daniel Killy, a spokesman for the Hamburg Jewish community, said at the time that “It’s not a statement of the neo-fascist NPD Party. It’s the German Press Agency spreading ‘Jewish lobby’ and other antisemitic clichés – truly unbelievable!.”