How tiny Qatar hosts the leaders of Hamas without consequences

On October 7, as Hamas gunmen rampaged across southern Israel, a group of middle-aged men in a luxury suite in Doha, Qatar gathered in front of a camera.

Hamas leaders, led by Ismail Haniyeh, recorded themselves showing surprise about the attacks from the news on a large-screen television, and then kneeling to give thanks to Allah for the success of the operation.

This episode served as a reminder that while innocent civilians in Gaza die in their hundreds from aerial bombing and tens of thousands more are rendered homeless, Hamas's leaders exist above the fray in air-conditioned comfort 2,000 kilometres away as guests of Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

But they are not the only guests of Qatar. 

Just a few minutes drive away from the hotels and villas housing Hamas leaders is Al-Udaid Air Base, home to the U.S. military's Central Command. Washington's relationship with Qatar is so close that last year the White House officially designated the tiny emirate a "Major Non-NATO Ally" of the United States.

For a small country with fewer than half a million citizens, Qatar manages to squeeze in a lot of contradictions.

On Monday evening, according to the government of Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a phone conversation with Qatar's Emir Al-Thani.

Those who cover Canadian foreign relations have learned not to give much weight to Ottawa's anodyne readouts (descriptions of official calls), which often omit important information and are sometimes misleading. The account from the Qatari side is equally opaque.

Neither the Canadian government readout nor the Qatari one mention anyone raising the presence of Hamas' leadership in Qatar during the call.

CBC News asked the Prime Minister's Office if Trudeau had indeed spoken with the Emir without mentioning the issue of Hamas's presence in Qatar, but did not receive an answer. 

An official in Mélanie Joly's office told CBC News "I can say that it has not been raised by the minister."

Qatar's embassy in Canada did respond, although it did not reveal details of the Trudeau-Thani conversation.

The embassy told CBC News that Qatar condemns "all forms of targeting civilians" and that "killing innocent civilians, especially women and children, and practising the policy of collective punishment are unacceptable.

"Since the first day of the confrontations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, the State of Qatar has been keen to reduce escalation and calm down with aim to reach a complete cessation of the fighting in order to stop the bloodshed and prevent the region from sliding into a wider cycle of violence."