Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of Hamas, was assassinated in July in Tehran. The location of the assassination was notable, because Haniyeh had spent most of his time in Doha, Qatar, since 2017. Most observers concur that Israel was behind the assassination, though it has neither confirmed nor denied doing so, and it’s reasonable to think that the choice of place came from a calculation that angering Qatar would be more problematic than angering Iran. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] That decision reflects the importance that Qatar has taken on in the Middle East despite its small size.