Palestine: Hamas Denies Tension With Qatar

By Nour Abu Aisha





Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Sunday denied reports about tension with Qatar.





Local media earlier "ed Yahya al-Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, saying during a meeting last week that Hamas' relations with Qatar were tense.





In a statement, Hamas said claims about tense relations between the group and Doha were "untrue".





The statement said al-Sinwar "did not mention that Qatar opposed the Palestinian reconciliation or was dissatisfied with rapprochement between Hamas and Egypt".



The Palestinian group went on to hail Qatar for its support for the Palestinian people.





Hamas has maintained strong ties with Qatar, which hosts a number of group leaders, including former political chief Khaled Meshaal.





Qatar has been under a blockade by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, who cut their diplomatic ties with Doha in June, accusing it of supporting terrorism.





Qatar denies the accusations and contends that the blockade was in violation of international law. -