Traveling abroad comes with a standard set of anxieties: missed connections, lost luggage or, if you’re Israeli, a regional war erupting just before the holidays.
But spare a thought for Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ chief negotiator, who left his five-star exile in Qatar for what was intended to be a quick diplomatic trip to Cairo.
After summarily rejecting a U.S.-backed disarmament proposal that offered a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, he received a text message notifying him that he had been evicted from his luxury lodgings and was officially barred from re-entering the country. It is every vacationer’s worst nightmare.
It appears that Hamas’ latest bout of intractability has finally broken its patron’s back. After 20 years, Qatar is pulling its investment in the terror group. According to my sources, Doha will no longer play the role of host and negotiator, and most of Hamas’ leadership has already departed the country.