Two senior Hamas officials forced to leave Qatar
Hamas has begun cooperating with Qatar after the Gulf State issued the organization a list of members it wanted out of the country posthaste; those who left are tied to the West Bank section of the terror group.
The senior Hamas officials were identified as Saleh al-Arouri—believed to be responsible for organizing and directing Hamas members in the West Bank—and Musa Dodin, who was released in the 2011 Shalit prisoner exchange.
There are still several more Hamas officials who are required to leave Qatar, but their identities and exact numbers remain unknown. All those leaving Qatar will be dispersed to different countries such as Malaysia, Lebanon and Turkey.
Qatar's list of persona non grata Hamas members includes those involved in attempts to establish Hamas terror infrastructure in the West Bank.
Al-Arouri had worked for many years to establish Hamas cells in the West Bank in order to carry out terror attacks against a variety of Israeli targets. He had previously been located in Turkey, but was banished as part of the reconciliation agreement between Israel and Ankara.
Musa Dodin was active in Hamas' West Bank headquarters, directing terror attacks against Israelis. Dodin is also in charge of the issue of Hamas prisoners in Israel. Dodin's brother has been in administrative detention for more than a year.
Hamas admitted Sunday that there were changes in the location of various officials whose names have not been disclosed. However, the organization said it was linked to administrative changes that were made following the internal elections. At the same time, Hamas denied that the request was made by Qatar following external pressure on it.
