As the Gaza Strip continues to be pounded by IDF airstrikes, there is increasing discussion in Israel and foreign media about how to get to the hiding places of the Hamas leaders in tunnels under Gaza's hospitals, schools, and mosques.

But Hamas's true leaders, at least on paper, aren't even in the Gaza Strip. They instead lead a jet-setting lifestyle in the luxury hotels of the region, in Doha, Beirut, and Istanbul.

Ismail Haniyeh in 2017 became the head of Hamas' political bureau, the highest position in the terror organization's leadership structure.

He and many other senior Hamas leaders for years have lived in Doha, the capital of the Gulf Emirate of Qatar.

Haniyeh's "victory speech" and prayer of thanks after the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, along with other Hamas operatives, was broadcast live from a luxury hotel by the Doha-based and state-owned TV station Al Jazeera.

Shortly after, the Four Seasons Hotel chain was forced to issue an official denial that Haniyeh lived in its Doha branch after reports indicated it was Haniyeh's main residence.

Haniyeh moved to Doha a few years ago, leaving behind his luxurious Gaza residence in the now-destroyed financial neighborhood of Rimal, where many Hamas leaders possess large homes.

The decision to move Hamas' operations to Qatar was taken by Haniyeh's predecessor Khaled Mashal in 2012.

He transferred the Hamas headquarters there after the Syrian civil war complicated the situation in Damascus, where they resided before.

A Qatari official told the French news agency AFP that the establishment of Hamas' political bureau in Qatar was coordinated with the U.S., which continues to maintain its largest naval base in the region in the Emirate.

Hamas' leadership also spends a lot of time in Turkey, where Haniyeh and his number two Saleh al-Arouri have received residency status and Turkish passports from the authorities, allowing them to travel internationally.

Another important outpost of the terror organization is in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

There resides Saleh al-Arouri, whose former home in Samaria was razed by the IDF on Monday.

Arouri also regularly meets with the other arch-terrorists who call Beirut their home, for example, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhala.

Hamas's official representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, also lives in Beirut.

However, relations aren't as harmonious as they seem to be.

After Khaled Mashal recently called on Hezbollah to contribute more to the war between Israel and Hamas, he was criticized in Lebanon.

Sources close to Hezbollah called Mashal "a man who sits in a seven-star hotel," who should be ashamed to call on Lebanon to start a war against Israel, Ynet News reported.

"This story is not welcome. Someone is sitting in a hotel in a Gulf state and dares to say to Hezbollah, 'Thank you, but it is not enough.' Khaled Mashal does not have a good influence on our environment in general and in particular after what happened in Syria," a Lebanese journalist commented.

Republished with permission from All Israel News.