Qatar PM To Tucker Carlson: Israel, US Asked Us To Host Hamas: Doha Forum

Tucker Carlson interviewed Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Sunday, at the 2025 Doha Forum, discussing regional peace efforts, Qatar’s role in mediating conflicts, and international responses to the war in Gaza.

During the interview, Al Thani addressed Qatar’s diplomatic engagements with non-state actors like Hamas and the Taliban, which were established at the request of the United States to facilitate dialogue and ceasefires, crediting it with facilitating President Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan that ended active fighting and enabled hostage exchanges.

Carlson opened by addressing widespread U.S. accusations, citing Senator Ted Cruz’s claims that Qatar is a “terror state” due to its hosting of Hamas leaders.

“The starting of the relationship with Hamas and the communication was started back more than 10 years, 13 years ago — at the request of the United States,” Al Thani responded.

The Prime Minister said that Qatar’s engagement with Hamas, with 2012 opening of Hamas Doha office, was at the request of Israel and the U.S. and was solely for communication, ceasefire facilitation, and aid delivery to Gaza, not for funding the group.

Al Thani described Israel’s September 2025 airstrike near Doha as an "unprecedented and unethical," a violation of sovereignty and mediation principles.

Carlson revealed Trump privately urged Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize, describing the attack as having "short-circuited" ceasefire efforts.

"The mediator being bombed by one of the parties—this has been unprecedented," A Thani said. He revealed that Trump was “very clear” and “frustrated” upon learning of the attack, assigning an adviser to contact Qatar immediately.

The PM affirmed Qatar's commitment to humanitarian aid for Palestinians but insisted that any funds must supplement insufficient international support and directly reach the people, not be used for infrastructure rebuilding.

"We will not write the cheque for what others destroyed," he said, adding, "Our position is that our payments will go only to help the Palestinian people, if we see that the help coming to them is insufficient."

"We will do whatever to alleviate their suffering," he said, but emphasized no support for forced Palestinian displacement, saying they have the right to remain in their homeland and that no one has the authority to deport them.

The prime minister emphasized that Qatar would not fund the reconstruction of Gaza, asserting that Israel, as the party responsible for the destruction, should bear that burden, and criticized the double standard applied to conflicts like Ukraine and Gaza.

Qatar lobbies in the U.S. "only to protect and to safeguard this relationship," Al Thani said, noting its mutual benefits., and in an apparent swipe at Israel, argued that the Gulf Arab nation does not ask the U.S. to bomb any nation in the  Middle East.

Carlson echoed: "Peace has a lot of enemies… who want to undermine it for political reasons."

The high-profile forum was attended by prominent figures including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr., and Bill Gates.

In a session moderated by Foreign Policy's Ravi Agrawal, Clinton expressed alarm over Trump's foreign policy eroding U.S. alliances and values, particularly on Ukraine and Gaza. She doubled down on prior comments blaming social media "propaganda" for young Americans' pro-Palestinian views, calling it an "incomplete" picture lacking "context" and "historical perspective."

Confronted by journalist Aaron Maté on her "not know history" claim, she declined to respond.

On Trump's Ukraine stance, Clinton said: "Supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even in a limited way… attempting to coerce Ukraine into accepting a negotiated ceasefire… this is concerning. Remember, Russia has been in Ukraine since 2014."

Clinton warned of "unnecessary division" with allies in the U.S. National Security Strategy.

On Gaza and global conflicts, she acknowledged "horrific" Gaza conditions: "I am angry about all of the human rights abuses… I’m angry about what happened on October 7 in Israel. I’m angry about what happened in Gaza… Sudan… eastern Congo."

Clinton advocated a two-state solution: "We are not going to implement [peace plans] unless people come with some sense of historical perspective and empathy." She claimed that Trump's policies put "a very heavy emphasis on moving away from core American values," triggering global backlash.

Appearing with investor Omeed Malik and Sky News' Yalda Hakim, Trump Jr. promoted "patriotic capitalism" and signaled a U.S. pivot away from unlimited Ukraine aid, prioritizing domestic issues. He criticized President Vladymyr Zelenskyy as a "borderline deity" elevated by the left and highlighted Ukrainian elite corruption as a peace barrier.

"The American public has NO appetite for writing blank checks for Ukraine or [the] EU… Old ways of America’s gonna be [the] big idiot with a checkbook—that’s NOT gonna happen," Trump Jr. said. The war "isn’t even a top 10 issue for Republicans."

"Because of the war, and because he’s one of the great marketers of all time, Zelenskyy became a borderline deity, especially to the left, where he could do no wrong," he said. "50% of the supercars… have Ukrainian plates. Do we think that was actually earned in Ukraine?" He suggested elites lack "incentive for peace."

On President Trump's unpredictability, Trump Jr said,  "He doesn’t follow every clown’s script… No one should bet on his father… to stand by Ukraine."

In his remarks, Gates (the Gates Foundation Chair) stressed human ingenuity for global problems but urged better tools for health and climate action, aligning with forum calls for a Global Climate Resilience Fund.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's remarks focused on post-conflict reconstruction and regional stability, amid Syria's fragile transition. While Turkish FM Hakan Fidan: advocated multilateralism in Gaza and Ukraine, criticizing "strategic isolation."