Saudi Arabia and Qatar engaged in a diplomatic war last year when the former imposed an embargo on the latter, attempting to cut its ties with the outside. In addition to the existing confrontations between the two Gulf countries, now the two countries are locked in another power struggle. This time it is over Somalia. While Saudi Arabia has de facto recognized Somaliland, a tiny region within Somalia, Qatar has increased its financial and infrastructural aid for Somalia. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are in a deep rift for several reasons. Saudi Arabia has been accusing Qatar of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East and North Africa. The Saudi kingdom considers the group a terror organization.
In Egypt, Qatar had been backing Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, who died in June in court during a trial. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated party was closed after a bloody coup that took place in July 2013 and was led by incumbent president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
Meanwhile, Qatar has been supporting Hamas and investing in Gaza. However, Saudi Arabia, which has improved its ties with Israel in the last few years over an alliance against Iran, believes Hamas has ties with both Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.