Risch, Wicker, Colleagues Press Biden-Harris Administration to Reverse Policy Toward State of Qatar

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led 12 of their colleagues on a letter to multiple federal agencies with requests, including that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of State:

• Immediately freeze the assets of Hamas officials living in Qatar.
• Extradite several senior Hamas officials currently residing in Qatar and elsewhere, including Khaled Meshal whom the Department of Justice has already indicted, and Khalil Al-Hayya.
• Ask Qatar to end its hospitality of Hamas' senior leadership, as Hamas has exploited its safe haven in Qatar to confer with Iranian officials and reject reasonable negotiations in international media.

"The defeat of Hamas is within reach, and ending the safe haven that its leadership enjoys abroad is vital to defeating it," the senators wrote. "We urge you to act expediently so that this Iranian-backed terrorist organization is finally held responsible for the horrific terrorist massacre of October 7, 2023, and the war that it deliberately unleashed across the region."

The letter - which was addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken - was led by Senators Risch and Wicker and cosigned by Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Dan Sullivan (R-Ala.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.).

Full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear Secretary Blinken and Attorney General Garland,

The Israel Defense Forces' killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar presents a critical opportunity for the United States to compel Hamas' surrender. This would end the war that Hamas started with its brutal terrorist massacre on October 7, 2023, in which it killed nearly 1200 people, including 46 Americans, and took 250 hostages, including twelve Americans. We therefore urge you to act quickly against Hamas' remaining leadership, so that the organization is destroyed and defeated.

First, we urge you to reverse the Biden-Harris administration's policy toward the State of Qatar, whereby the administration has permitted Qatar to facilitate negotiations by hosting Hamas' leadership. Hamas' Doha-based leaders have exploited this arrangement, and used the relative freedom that Qatar has afforded them to oppose ceasefire negotiations in international media, host Iranian officials at Hamas' Doha headquarters, and travel abroad. Qatari officials have said repeatedly that they would change their policy towards Hamas if the Biden-Harris administration asked it to do so, and we believe that it is long past time the administration ask Qatar to freeze Hamas leaders' assets, shut their access to international media, end their ability to host foreign visitors, and prevent them from traveling abroad.

Second, we urge you to seek the extradition to the United States of Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, who currently resides in Qatar. The Department of Justice unsealed indictments pertaining to multiple Hamas leaders, including Mr. Meshal, on September 3, 20241 , and he should face justice for his leadership of a terrorist group that has American blood and hostages on its hands.

Third, we urge you to seek indictments for Hamas' other senior officials abroad, foremost among them Khalil Al-Hayya, who resides in Qatar. According to The New York Times, during the year prior to Hamas' October 7, 2023 terrorist massacre, Mr. Al-Hayya sought Iranian and Hezbollah support for Hamas' brutal attack, with the goal of assaulting Israel on multiple fronts.2 Mr. Al-Hayya should no longer be permitted to live risk-free in Doha. He should be indicted immediately for his role in killing Americans and taking Americans hostage, and then extradited to the United States to face justice.

The defeat of Hamas is within reach, and ending the safe haven that its leadership enjoys abroad is vital to defeating it. We urge you to act expediently so this Iranian-backed terrorist organization is finally held responsible for the horrific terrorist massacre of October 7, 2023 and the war that it deliberately unleashed across the region.

Sincerely,

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