Is Turkey the new Hamas HQ?

The U.S. suddenly dramatizes Turkey's ties with Hamas, despite being fully aware of every step in this relationship for decades. Now, the real question isn’t Turkey’s role—it’s Washington’s endgame.

Erdogan met with Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal in Istanbul in 2015—just one of many such meetings over the years.

It began a couple of weeks ago.

Qatar announced it had told Hamas and Israel it would pause its efforts to mediate a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal until both sides showed seriousness about resuming talks.

Then came the evergreen news: reports that Qatar had expelled Hamas leaders and would no longer host them. This kind of story resurfaces every six months, as if on a timer—’ Qatar fed up with Hamas’, ‘Hamas moving out’, ‘Qatar kicking them out.’ As if such decisions are within either party's full control. As if both are truly 'free' to act as they please.

Qatar denied the claims, of course, but stated that Hamas’ top brass have since been seen shuttling between other major capitals.

Shortly after, the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on six senior Hamas officials, three allegedly living in Turkey: Abd al-Rahman Ghanimat, Musa Akari, and Salama Mari. Ghanimat, a…