Qatar has been a key financial supporter of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, transferring more than $1.8 billion to Hamas over the years. In consultation with the U.S. and Israeli governments, $30 million were transferred monthly to Hamas, according to a Qatari official interviewed by Der Spiegel in 2023. The United States requested in 2011 that Qatar provide a base for the Hamas leadership to ease communications with the group. From 2012, Qatar hosted the Hamas party leadership when Hamas head Khaled Mashal relocated from Syria to Qatar. Ismail Haniyeh, who succeeded Mashal as political head of Hamas, had also resided in Doha as of 2016. Qatar has been called Hamas' most important financial backer and foreign ally.