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November 24, 2024

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) poses beside Khalid Mashaal (C), the Hamas chief in exile, and Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh prior to their meeting in Ankara on June 18, 2013. Senior leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas met today in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to discuss Erdogan's planned visit to the Gaza Strip as well as the situation in Syria, the source said on condition of anonymity. AFP PHOTO/ PRIME MINISTER PRESS OFFICE/ YASIN BULBUL == RESTRICTED T

Analysis

Will Turkey host Hamas leaders after consequential Qatar departure?

Pro-Muslim Brotherhood groups and leaders in Turkey enjoyed few restrictions on their activities in the past but are now seeing their activities curtailed.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

After UAE visit, Qatari PM holds talks in Iran as Hamas officials depart Doha

A Gulf political official told Al-Monitor on Wednesday that the Qatari prime minister's visit to the UAE is designed to communicate Doha's new policy toward Hamas, where it seeks to be more in alignment with them regarding the group.

Hamas's chief representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan (L), Hamas Arab relations chief Khalil al-Hayya (C) and Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command Talal Naji arrive for a press conference during a visit to Damascus, Syria, Oct. 19, 2022.

Reports Hamas' political bureau relocated to Turkey false, Turkish sources say

Turkish diplomatic sources refutes claims of Hamas political leaders relocating from Qatar to Turkey, following media reports.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani looks, in Lusail, Qatar, on Oct. 13, 2023.

In reshuffle, Qatar emir replaces 6 ministers, intel chief: What we know

The Qatari emir issued a series of orders, replacing ministers and appointing new heads of some top agencies in the country, including the State Security, which has been involved in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Latest News

Qatar tells Hamas leaders to leave as Gaza cease-fire talks deadlocked

Mourners offer their condolences to senior member of Hamas' political bureau Musa Abu Marzuk (C) during the funeral of the slain Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Doha on August 2, 2024.

Analysis

Beyond congratulations, Trump faces changed, eastward-looking Gulf

US President Donald Trump (L) speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May smile during a family photo session at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read KIM KYUNG-HOON/AFP via Getty Images)

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

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What's significance of UAE's Sheikh Tahnoon third visit to Qatar in a year?

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser, in Doha on Sunday

United Arab Emirates

Qatar Airways suspends Iran, Lebanon flights, joining growing list of airlines

An Airbus A350 plane of Qatar Airways from Doha parks after it landed at Berlin's airport "Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt", during the opening of the southern runway of the airport, in Schoenefeld, southeast of Berlin, on November 4, 2020. - Passenger flights are to began landing on October 31, 2020 at Berlin's new international airport, a moment many Germans thought they might never see after years of embarrassing delays and spiralling costs. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AF

Jennifer Gnana

Gulf Correspondent

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Kate Dourian

In Dubai, reporting on energy

Karen Young

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

A Kuwaiti trader wearing a protective mask follows the market at the Boursa Kuwait stock exchange in Kuwait City on March 1, 2020. - Boursa Kuwait decided to close the main trading hall due to the COVID-19 coronavirus disease developments. Stock markets in the oil-rich Gulf states plunged on March 1 over fears of the impact of the coronavirus, which also battered global bourses last week. All of the seven exchanges in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which were closed the previous two days for the Muslim

GCC states race for foreign investment

Despite the Saudi-led effort to bury the hatchet with Qatar, unified economic policies are coming up against by GCC countries’ needs to win foreign investment post-COVID.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud (R) and Secretray General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf, hold a press conferece at the end of the GCC's 41st summit, in the city of al-Ula in northwestern Saudi Arabia on January 5, 2021. - Gulf leaders signed a "solidarity and stability" deal after the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar publicly embraced, bringing Doha back into the regional fold after a three-year rift. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AF

Egypt, Bahrain adopt 'wait and see' approach to reconciliation with Qatar

Egypt awaits Qatar to take actions on the ground in accordance with Al-Ula Declaration that ended the boycott of Doha, but amid concerns that Qatar will bail out on its commitments.

US may help keep GCC reconciliation on track

It is unclear how firm or shaky the ground is for Gulf Cooperation Council nations' reconciliation with Qatar, but they may be on more or less good behavior to start off as well as possible with the Biden administration.

Qatar Airways announces expansion of flights to US

Qatar's flagship airline will resume flights to Seattle and Atlanta and increase daily and weekly flights to other cities in the United States.

An Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 "Dreamliner" aircraft carrying a delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a first official visit, lands at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on October 20, 2020. - The UAE delegation left on the country's first official visit to Israel with a string of deals set to be signed after the two countries signed a deal to normalise ties last month. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Etihad to resume flights to Doha as Gulf crisis ends

Following the United Arab Emirates reopening its airspace to Qatar, the Abu Dhabi-based airline will restart flights to the Qatari capital next month.

United Arab Emirates

Egypt says it is renewing diplomatic relations with Qatar

Qatar Airways also announced the resumption of its Cairo route as the Gulf rift comes closer to an official end.

DOHA, QATAR - DECEMBER 18: In this handout image provided by Qatar 2022/Supreme Committee, Qatar inaugurates fourth FIFA World Cup 2022 venue, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on December 18th, 2020 in Doha, Qatar. Qatar inaugurates fourth FIFA World Cup 2022™ venue, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, in front of 50% capacity crowd. The 40,000-capacity venue will host seven matches during Qatar 2022 up to the round-of-16 stage. Fans in attendance were required to show negative COVID-19 test results before entering the venue. (P

Can World Cup soccer help heal Gulf wounds?

Communities torn apart by a yearslong rift between Gulf rulers may need time to heal the wounds of a crisis that damaged social ties that have historically transcended borders.

<<enter caption here>> on October 24, 2011 in Doha, Qatar.

UAE reopens land, sea, air ports to Qatar following Gulf deal

The announcement comes after Gulf leaders this week agreed to end their years-long embargo of Qatar.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir (L), UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (2nd-L), Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (2nd-R), and Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa (R) meet in the Egyptian capital Cairo on July 5, 2017, to discuss the Gulf diplomatic crisis with Qatar, as Doha called for dialogue to resolve the dispute.
The Saudi foreign ministry said on July 5, 2017 that it had received Qatar's response to a 13-point list

Egypt thaws relations with Qatar after long-running feud

Egypt signed a reconciliation agreement with Qatar, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, aimed at ending the Gulf blockade imposed on Doha since 2017, but it seems pending issues remain, including the Muslim Brotherhood, preventing full restoration of ties between Cairo and Doha.

Emirati official says Gulf states to work on trade with Qatar before resuming diplomatic ties

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash's comments indicate that healing the Gulf rift may still take more time.

Gulf countries end feud, but Saudi cleric who urged detente still in jail

Salman Aloudah's son says it's ironic that Saudi Arabia is hailing the end of the Gulf rift but silencing a prominent voice who called on the neighbors to mend ties.

Journalists watch the arrival of the Qatar envoy ahead of the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in the city of al-Ula in northwestern Saudi Arabia on January 5, 2021. - Saudi Arabia will reopen its borders and airspace to Qatar, US and Kuwaiti officials said, a major step towards ending a diplomatic rift that has seen Riyadh lead an alliance isolating Doha. The bombshell announcement came on the eve of GCC annual summit in the northwestern Saudi Arabian city of Al-Ula, where the dispute was already

Gulf unity deal further isolates Iran

Healing the Gulf Cooperation Council rift is a parting gift for Trump and a welcome gift for Biden in dealing with the Islamic Republic.