Does this video on TikTok depict the emir of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, threatening to halt natural gas supplies unless Israel ceases its bombing of Gaza? No, that's not true: The video is from 2017 and the emir does not mention cutting off the gas supply.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by @kunta_kintey00 on October 15, 2023, with a caption that read:
'If the bombing of Gaza does not stop, we will cut off the supply of gas to the world' - Amir of Qatar.
A big blow to Germany, who signed a big deal with Qatar. The whole of Europe fears a serious food and energy crisis. Because on the other hand, Russia has terminated the grain agreement with them.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sat Oct 28 09:01:03 2023 UTC)
The claim on TikTok gained significant traction, as evidenced by its wide circulation on multiple platforms here and here, following a major offensive launched by Hamas from Gaza into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.
The video circulating on TikTok features a few seconds of a speech by the emir of Qatar (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff):
... The Palestinian cause began with the displacement of a people from their territory and uprooted from their native land.
Lead Stories performed a reverse Google Image search (archived here) on several segments of the video on October 28, 2023, revealing that the clip originated six years ago. A longer version of the emir's speech (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff), titled "Emir of Qatar: The Palestinian cause is the cause of people displaced from their territory and uprooted from their native land," was originally published on YouTube by Al Jazeera on May 14, 2017:
(Source: YouTube screenshot taken on Sat Oct 28 010:22 2023 UTC)
In his opening speech at the 17th Doha Forum, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani stated (translated from Arabic to English by Lead Stories staff):
The asylum crisis is a result of regional conflicts, civil wars and displacements driven by racial, ethnic or sectarian factors. Some of these crises have deep historical origins, such as the displacement of Palestinian refugees in 1948 during the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), whose anniversary coincides with these days. It's therefore accurate to claim that the Palestinian cause began with the displacement of a people from their territory and their forced removal from their native land. Others are more recent, like the plight of Iraqis who have been displaced due to sieges and wars.
A Google News search spanning the last 12 months, using keywords "Emir," "Qatar," "Gas supply," "Cut off," "Gaza" and "Israel" on October 28, 2023, (archived here) did not yield any credible reports from either national or international news outlets.
