Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused Qatar, a key mediator in efforts to free its hostages, of being responsible for the October 7 Hamas attack, AFP reports.

Qatar is the “patron of Hamas and is largely responsible for the massacre committed by Hamas of Israeli citizens”, Smotrich said on X, formerly Twitter.

“Qatar is a country that supports terrorism and finances terrorism.” Smotrich accused Western governments of being “hypocritical” in maintaining close relations with Doha.

“The West can and should exert much stronger leverage on it and bring about the release of the hostages immediately,” he said.

“One thing is clear: Qatar will not be involved one bit in what happens in Gaza the day after the war.”