Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Who Took Power in a 1995 Coup, Dies at 74

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani died on July 12, 2026, at age 74, the Qatari government announced. He ruled the country from 1995 to 2013 after seizing power in a bloodless coup that June while his father was abroad. Forbes reported that Sheikh Hamad used revenue from the North Field gas deposit to build a network of bilateral relationships.

The first Qatari liquefied natural gas cargo reached Japan in 1997. Export capacity grew to roughly 77 million tons a year by the early 2010s, making Qatar the world's largest LNG exporter for most of the following decade. The same period saw construction of the Al Udeid U.S.

Air base outside Doha beginning in 1996 and the launch of Al Jazeera in 1996. The Qatar Investment Authority was established in 2005. Women voted for the first time in 1999, and a constitution passed by referendum in 2003.

Qatar gained independence in 1971 under Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali. Sheikh Hamad handed power to his son in 2013. A blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt from 2017 lasted three and a half years.

Turkey deployed troops and airlifted food to Qatar within days of the blockade's start. An Israeli strike hit Hamas negotiators in Doha in September 2025. The United States responded by converting its security assurance into a formal guarantee through an executive order.

An Iranian strike hit the Ras Laffan complex in March 2026, after which QatarEnergy declared force majeure on some LNG contracts. Forbes reported that the strategy created optionality through diversified dependencies. The recent strikes tested whether those relationships remain usable during simultaneous pressures.