A coalition of Republican senators is requesting the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of State to reverse American diplomatic policies toward the state of Qatar.
Citing Qatar’s hospitality toward Hamas and Hamas’ role in the killing of several U.S. citizens during the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Jim Risch (R-ID) the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relation Committee joined a dozen of their colleagues in writing to multiple federal agencies. The letter urged the agencies to freeze the assets of Hamas officials living in Qatar, extradite several senior Hamas officials whom the U.S. Department of Justice has already indicted residing in Qatar, and asking Qatar to end its hospitality of Hamas’ senior leadership.
“The defeat of Hamas is within reach, and ending the safe haven that its leadership enjoys abroad is vital to defeating it,” the senators wrote. “We urge you to act expediently so that this Iranian-backed terrorist organization is finally held responsible for the horrific terrorist massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, and the war that it deliberately unleashed across the region.”
The letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also signed by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Deb Fischer, (R-NB), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), and Pete Ricketts (R-NB).