Before 2012, the Hamas leadership was based out of Damascus. Tensions grew between the militants and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad as revolution gripped the country. Eventually, Hamas sided with the rebels and cut ties to some extent with Syria, Hezbollah, and Iran.

“Hamas lost a lot in the uprisings,” says Hellyer. “This is one of the reasons why Qatar stepped in.”

Qatar, a strong supporter of both the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hamas, took advantage of the situation.

In the fall of 2012, the head of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, visited the Gaza Strip becoming the first world leader to do so under Hamas control. The emir inaugurated projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In the vacuum left by other countries, Qatar saw its influence over the Strip rising quickly.

But Doha’s ambitions hit a roadblock on July 3, 2013 when Mohamed Morsy was ousted by Egypt’s military in a coup. The Muslim Brotherhood were stripped of their power and their influence. The new ruler — General Abdel Fatah El Sisi — was hostile toward Qatar and Hamas.

He accused Hamas of supporting the Brotherhood in the post-coup violence. Hundreds of smuggling tunnels, along the border with Gaza, were taken out of action, thus severing a vital lifeline to the coastal strip. Indeed, relations between Hamas and Cairo grew so bad that Egyptian pundits cheered Israel and praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 2014 war between Gaza Militants and Israel.

Less than three years later, and that Egyptian resentment, shared by its Arab allies, exists now as a power play aimed at bending Qatar to its will.

“It’s difficult to imagine Qatar able to hold out against such a restrictive system around them. I expect quite a few people in Qatar are looking for a way to compromise,” explains Hellyer. “The problem is, the temperature has risen so much so quickly that there are no face saving measures. If Doha concedes to the demands, it’ll look quite bad for Doha internally.”