In light of the flare-up of battles in Gaza, Ismaël Haniyeh in Qatar praises her Emir

The head of Hamas political bureau, Ismaël Haniyeh, appeared on Saturday in the Qatari capital, Doha, as part of a festival under the slogan of Palestine rising to praise the Emir of Qatar and his father, and a message to Israel to lift its hand off Jerusalem, at a time when the battle is raging and Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip.

During the festival, which was held despite the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in front of the Muhammad bin Abdulwahhab Mosque in Doha, Haniyeh praised Qatar’s role in supporting Palestinian factions in Gaza since the power was in the hands of Emir Hamad ben Khalifa Al-Thani, according to video footage released during his participation in the festival.

Haniyeh’s appearance in Doha sparked a wave of controversy, with some accusing him of sparking war in the Strip and going on a recreation trip to Qatar. Videos of him were circulated in the Souq Waqif tourist area.

Fighting erupted between Palestinian factions, headed by Hamas, and Israel on Monday, as the two sides exchanged aerial and rocket bombardments on the background of the events of the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem, which left dozens of residents of the Strip and a number of people dead on the Israeli side and hundreds injured on both sides.