For such a small country, Qatar packs a big geopolitical punch. Jutting out from the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula into the Persian Gulf, this tiny sovereign state with just 300,000 citizens and 2.7 million expats, has the highest per capita income on the planet, due to its huge oil and natural gas reserves, the world’s third largest. Despite its small size, Qatar’s influence spreads far and wide. During the Arab Spring, the wave of protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, Qatar supported several rebel groups both financially and through its globally expanding media group, Al Jazeera. It therefore came as little surprise that when the Hamas political leaders decided to leave Syria in 2012, due to the unrest in their long-term ally, Qatar was their destination of choice.
Not only did Qatar’s capital Doha provide a safe haven for Hamas leaders, it also helped pay the salaries of tens of thousands of Palestinian teachers, doctors and other public servants in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade since Hamas wrested control of the territory in 2007. Over the past decade Qatar has sent more than $1 billion to Gaza, sometimes in suitcases stuffed with cash, in other cases as fuel, which the government in Gaza then sold to pay salaries. Qatari officials say that the state does not sponsor or fund Hamas, insisting that its aid to the blockaded strip was coordinated through UN agencies and Israel, with the Israeli government having ‘complete oversight’ of the humanitarian assistance.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 28, 2024 من The Sunday Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 28, 2024 من The Sunday Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
RAIL PSUs UNDER SCRUTINY FOR GIVING UNAUTHORIZED FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
Railtel sources said that despite the body having its own cadre that is enough to handle the operations, successive CMDs are bringing officials close to them on deputation to the PSU.
Is China swindling Nepal over repayment of Pokhara airport loan?
It has been claimed that China's loan to Nepal is being serviced at 5% and not 2%, as publicly claimed by China.
Has American democracy become a farce?
The numerous think-tanks that routinely place India at near bottom in democracy and media freedom rankings haven’t uttered a word about how this trial of Donald Trump is a direct and frontal assault on democracy.
CAN INDIA FOSTER PEACE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE?
Will India join the upcoming Switzerland peace summit aimed at ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis and bringing peace in the region? Switzerland is all set to host the summit on 15-16 June.
Will political parties agree on one nation, one election?
Will political parties that are continuously complaining about the system during the elections, be ready to pass a unanimous proposal in Parliament for election reforms?
FIVE REGIONAL PARTIES STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
The leaders of these parties do not have clarity about their political future and therefore are jumping over to other parties.
Did playing the caste card help the Opposition?
Rahul forgot that Indira and Rajiv Gandhialways maintained a distance from caste politics. He got it into his head that caste was the way forward.
EXIT POLLS SUGGEST A TIGHT RACE IN MAHARASHTRA
There could be a tight race in Maharashtra with NDA and I.N.D.I.A bloc running neck and neck.
HOW EXIT POLLS FARED IN 2014 AND 2019
Exit polls predicted the NDA forming government easily. Yet no exit poll could predict the rout of UPA in both the Lok Sabha elections.
HIMACHAL PRADESH WITNESSES HIGH VOTER TURNOUT IN FINAL PHASE OF ELECTION
High voter turnout marks the final phase of Himachal Pradesh's Lok Sabha and Assembly bypolls: prominent leaders cast ballots early