Israeli officials sought to increase Qatari funding for Hamas just weeks before the October 7, 2023 attacks, according to an account of a previously undisclosed meeting in Jerusalem. 

The early September 2023 meeting involved senior Israeli security and civil officials and a high-ranking Qatari envoy, with discussions centered on expanding fuel financing that sustained Hamas’ governing apparatus in Gaza.

The meeting went beyond Israel’s previously reported position of allowing Qatar to maintain cash transfers. Israeli representatives actively asked for an increase in funding, despite understanding that the money would not reach needy Palestinian civilians but would instead support Hamas’ administrative and political control of the enclave.

The Qatari official at the center of the talks was Mohammed al-Emadi, who for years oversaw the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas with Israeli approval. Israeli participants included senior figures from the Shin Bet, COGAT, and other agencies.

At the time, Israeli intelligence assessments held that Hamas was not seeking full-scale escalation and was using border unrest to extract economic concessions.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had demanded increased fuel supplies for Gaza’s power plant during the summer months, including raising Qatari-financed fuel purchases from $3 million to $7 million per month. Qatar initially signaled it was unwilling to approve the increase.

Under a mechanism agreed in late 2021, Qatar stopped direct cash transfers and instead purchased fuel in Egypt, delivering it as a donation to Hamas authorities. 

Hamas then sold the fuel domestically, using the proceeds to pay salaries of its governing structures. Though the sums appeared modest — between $3 million and $10 million — the arrangement generated far larger financial returns for Hamas and did not address poverty or humanitarian relief.

Israeli intelligence agencies interpreted renewed border tensions and the revival of “return camps” in late August 2023 as pressure tactics linked to these funding demands.

The early September Jerusalem meeting sought to ensure “quiet” by approving additional fuel flows and related concessions.

Later in September 2023, David Barnea traveled to Doha, where he confirmed — acting on instructions from Benjamin Netanyahu — that Qatari funding to Hamas should continue.

Both Barnea and Shin Bet leadership had previously opposed the policy, but Netanyahu prioritized maintaining calm in Gaza.

The approach was shaped by intelligence assessments that Hamas sought stability and by a failure to detect preparations for the October 7 assault.

The new details indicate Israel was not only preserving the funding channel but was prepared to expand it at Hamas’ request in an effort to prevent escalation — a strategy that collapsed catastrophically weeks later.