While formally a U.S. ally, Qatari’s ruling elite shelters and bankrolls Islamist movements including Hamas, Taliban elements, al‑Qaeda affiliates, and Muslim Brotherhood networks, making Doha one of the world’s key state enablers of jihadist terrorism, according to the Counter Extremism Project think tank.

In Germany, the debate is increasingly framed through the lens of hybrid tactics. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project, said: “It’s clear that the defense strategy of the Islamic regime in Iran really is hybrid warfare. ” He added that the idea Tehran could try to “increase the economic and political costs of military confrontation globally by using terror attacks as they had a history in the past of doing” is “definitely something that is very clear. ”

Those responsible for orchestrating the attacks “are operating in plain sight and within reach in the hands of our purported major non-NATO ally Qatar,” said Mark Wallace, a former U.S. representative to the United Nations and head of the New York-based United Against Nuclear Iran. “We should not hesitate to act militarily on Qatari soil to bring to justice Ismail Haniyeh and Hamas leadership,” Wallace said. Frances Townsend, a top counterterror adviser to George W. Bush and head of the non-profit Counter Extremism Project, also joined the call for action.

According to the Counter Extremism Project, the Muslim Brotherhood “has had a profound influence on the belief system that fuels al-Qaeda and ISIS. These groups share ideological underpinnings based on the writings of the late Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb.”