The flag of Qatar. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Qatar has suspended ties with Hamas in a bid to pressure the Palestinian terror group to change its policy against Egypt, a report in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida newspaper says.

The report says that Hamas must end its incitement against Egypt as well as end weapons smuggling from Gaza to terrorist groups in the Sinai Peninsula, which the Egyptian military has been fighting for several months.

The move by Qatar comes amid Saudi-brokered reconciliation efforts to end an 18-month standoff over Qatar’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Qatar opposed the overthrow of former Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

As part of the steps, Qatar recently shut down the Egypt channel of Al-Jazeera, which had been a source of deep tension with the Egyptian government over its pro-Muslim Brotherhood reporting. Reports indicate that Egypt is also in the process of freeing several Al-Jazeera journalists as well.

A summit between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisis and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is also reportedly being planned.