"The Jeweler", fuel and millions: how money flowed to Hamas ahead of the "Black Saturday"

An investigation by Channel 13 reveals secret security documents that shed light on the way Qatari money continued to flow to Hamas. Although it was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who began the strategy of transferring funds in 2018, the investigation focuses on the Bennett-Lapid government in 2021 and reveals the quiet mechanism built after the cessation of cash suitcases.

At the center of the exposure is the Qatari envoy Mohammed al-Emadi, who was nicknamed "The Jeweler" by the security establishment. According to the investigation, "The Jeweler" stitched together an alternative deal: Qatar purchased fuel from Egypt for 10 million dollars, and this was transferred directly and without supervision to a company belonging to Hamas. The fuel profits were effectively used to pay salaries to senior members of the terrorist organization — a mechanism that received government approval in October 2021, following a series of meetings between the envoy, Yahya Sinwar, and senior IDF officers.

The exposure of the mechanism comes at a sensitive time, against the backdrop of the 2026 election campaign. Qatar has once again become an explosive political issue: while Benjamin Netanyahu deals with the criticism over the long-standing reliance on it, Naftali Bennett is now committing to declare Qatar an enemy state.

On behalf of Naftali Bennett, it was stated in response that he was the one who stopped the suitcases of dollars that had been brought in for years "with complete recklessness". It was further clarified that most of the money was directed to food and only a third was converted into fuel.

"Bennett led a policy opposite to that of Benjamin Netanyahu", his associates stated, emphasizing that during his tenure a policy of zero tolerance for terror was implemented, which led to the quietest year in the Gaza envelope in the last two decades.