🧵REPORT:
1/ On Wednesday, November 13, Secretary Blinken, in the ongoing effort by the Biden administration to place all blame for the lack of a ceasefire deal on Hamas, claimed the group had been so unwilling to negotiate in good faith that “Qatar had told them to leave” the country.
But, just days earlier, on November 9, Qatar’s foreign ministry had issued a statement calling the reports “inaccurate.” ⬇️
1/ On Wednesday, November 13, Secretary Blinken, in the ongoing effort by the Biden administration to place all blame for the lack of a ceasefire deal on Hamas, claimed the group had been so unwilling to negotiate in good faith that “Qatar had told them to leave” the country.
But, just days earlier, on November 9, Qatar’s foreign ministry had issued a statement calling the reports “inaccurate.” ⬇️
2/ The reports seem to have originated with Israel’s public broadcaster Kan on November 8, citing three sources “familiar with the matter.” 
https://twitter.com/kann_news/status/1854950321665327576
3/ The story quickly spread, picked up by major western outlets like Financial Times and CNN. Each cited a senior Biden administration official, with FT also quoting “a person familiar with the matter.”
🔗Link to FT: ft.com/content/0d9dc9…
🔗Link to CNN: amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/11/08…
🔗Link to FT: ft.com/content/0d9dc9…
🔗Link to CNN: amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/11/08…
4/ Hamas quickly denied the reports, calling them “baseless” and a “pressure tactic.” This denial was reported in the western press as early as November 8, but it was largely dismissed. For an example, see how CNN handled the story.
https://twitter.com/dropsitenews/status/1855352182779855182
5/ Later that day, Qatar’s foreign ministry issued a pointed rebuke, rejecting the claim that they had ordered Hamas’s office shut as “inaccurate,” and accusing Israel of “blackmailing” and “manipulating” the situation to “continue the war for narrow political gain.”
https://twitter.com/dropsitenews/status/1855336636973813809
6/ Senior Hamas official Dr. Bassem Naim also rejected the claim in an interview on Thursday with Sky News. The interview underscores how the narrative that Hamas was to blame had already been reinforced through the misleading claim. Listen: 👇🏼
7/ Fast forward to Blinken — in the video shared above, the US Secretary of State was speaking in Brussels, four days after Qatar had publicly refuted the claims. Yet, the US’s top diplomat chose to reiterate them in a press conference before international media.
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