NEW YORK: A secret agreement between Washington and Qatar to stop money flowing from the emirate to terrorist groups should be made public, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been told.
Four US congressmen urged Tillerson to declassify the US-Qatar deal, which was brokered in July amid a diplomatic rift between Qatar and several of its neighbors.
In a letter published on Wednesday, the congressmen said that while parts of the deal may need to remain confidential, “public policy should be discussed and reviewed in public.”
“The American people have a right to know what steps Qatar’s government is taking to deter Islamist terrorism,” the congressmen said, and the deal probably included “steps Qatar must take to curb all support for terrorism, including Hamas.”
Tillerson agreed the deal in Doha on July 10 in an effort to defuse the crisis between Qatar and other Arab states — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt — which had boycotted Qatar over its support for extremism.
At the time, Tillerson said the deal would enable the US and Qatar to cooperate to track down sources of terrorist funding and share information about counter-terrorism activities, with milestones for measuring its success.
The contents of the agreement have never been disclosed despite mounting calls for transparency, resulting in the letter from congressmen Jim Banks, Robert Pittenger, Scott Perry and Ron DeSantis.
The State Department has said the agreement could not be published because it contained classified information about foreign governments and intelligence operations, including non-binding political commitments from Qatar.
However, the four congressmen said the agreement “does not appear to contain classified or sensitive information. The decision to classify the document while publicly praising Qatar’s progress toward upholding its contents makes it impossible for the public to judge Qatar’s compliance.”
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US urged to publish secret anti-terror deal with Qatar
US urged to publish secret anti-terror deal with Qatar
The West Bank soccer field slated for demolition by Israel
- The move is likely to eliminate one of the few spaces where Palestinian children are able to run and play
BETHLEHEM: Israeli authorities have ordered the demolition of a soccer field in a crowded refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, eliminating one of the few spaces where Palestinian children are able to run and play.
“If the field gets demolished, this will destroy our dreams and our future. We cannot play any other place but this field, the camp does not have spaces,” said Rital Sarhan, 13, who plays on a girls’ soccer team in the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem.
The Israeli military issued a demolition order for the soccer field on December 31, saying it was built illegally in an area that abuts the concrete barrier wall that Israel built in the West Bank.
“Along the security fence, a seizure order and a construction prohibition order are in effect; therefore, the construction in the area was carried out unlawfully,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Mohammad Abu Srour, an administrator at Aida Youth Center, which manages the field, said the military gave them seven days to demolish the field.
The Israeli military often orders Palestinians to carry out demolitions themselves. If they do not act, the military steps in to destroy the structure in question and then sends the Palestinians a bill for the costs.
According to Abu Srour, Israel’s military told residents when delivering the demolition order that the soccer field represented a threat to the separation wall and to Israelis.
“I do not know how this is possible,” he said.
Israeli demolitions have drawn widespread international criticism and coincide with heightened fears among Palestinians of an organized effort by Israel to formally annex the West Bank, the area seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel accelerated demolitions in Palestinian refugee camps in early 2025, leading to the displacement of 32,000 residents of camps in the central and northern West Bank. Human Rights Watch has called the demolitions a war crime. Israel has said they are intended to disrupt militant activity.
“If the field gets demolished, this will destroy our dreams and our future. We cannot play any other place but this field, the camp does not have spaces,” said Rital Sarhan, 13, who plays on a girls’ soccer team in the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem.
The Israeli military issued a demolition order for the soccer field on December 31, saying it was built illegally in an area that abuts the concrete barrier wall that Israel built in the West Bank.
“Along the security fence, a seizure order and a construction prohibition order are in effect; therefore, the construction in the area was carried out unlawfully,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Mohammad Abu Srour, an administrator at Aida Youth Center, which manages the field, said the military gave them seven days to demolish the field.
The Israeli military often orders Palestinians to carry out demolitions themselves. If they do not act, the military steps in to destroy the structure in question and then sends the Palestinians a bill for the costs.
According to Abu Srour, Israel’s military told residents when delivering the demolition order that the soccer field represented a threat to the separation wall and to Israelis.
“I do not know how this is possible,” he said.
Israeli demolitions have drawn widespread international criticism and coincide with heightened fears among Palestinians of an organized effort by Israel to formally annex the West Bank, the area seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel accelerated demolitions in Palestinian refugee camps in early 2025, leading to the displacement of 32,000 residents of camps in the central and northern West Bank. Human Rights Watch has called the demolitions a war crime. Israel has said they are intended to disrupt militant activity.
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