Emir of Qatar visits Gaza, pledges $400 million

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Mohammed Abed / Pool via ReutersHamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh welcomes the Emir of Qatar Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, right, to Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Oct. 23.By NBC News staff and wire servicesUpdated 4:10 p.m. ET -- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The emir of Qatar embraced the Hamas leadership of Gaza on Tuesday with  an official visit that broke the isolation of the Palestinian Islamist  movement, to the dismay of Israel and rival, Western-backed Palestinian  leaders.

Israel said it was "astounding" that Qatar, a  U.S.-allied Gulf state whose oil and gas permit it to punch way above  its diplomatic weight, would take sides in the Palestinian dispute and  endorse Hamas, branded as terrorists in the West. The emir had "thrown  peace under the bus," an Israeli spokesman said.

But some  analysts saw a daring move, aimed at rehabilitating Hamas in Western  eyes in order to coax it into the peace camp at a time of Arab  Spring revolts and civil war in Syria, have been reshaping power  balances across the Middle East.




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