Bassasso was also a former director for the Hamas-controlled Al-Quds TV, which halted its operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon due to financial difficulties in 2019.

[13] According to American lawyer and policy analyst Ilan Berman and Emirati columnist Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, MEE is backed by Qatar.

[14][15][16] The governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain have accused MEE of pro–Muslim Brotherhood bias and of receiving Qatari funding.

[24] On 29 July 2016, MEE published a story alleging that the government of the United Arab Emirates, aided by Palestinian exile Mohammed Dahlan, had funnelled significant sums of money to conspirators of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt two weeks earlier.

In a statement, Dahlan maintained that the story was "fully fabricated" but claimed that he has "achieved his goals in the English courts," and was now planning to sue Facebook in Dublin where the article was "widely published".

"[34] In a statement responding to the demand, the publication's editor-in-chief said "MEE covers the area without fear or favour, and we have carried reports critical of the Qatari authorities, for instance how workers from the subcontinent are treated on building projects for the 2022 World Cup.

"[35][36] Commentator Ibrahim Alkhamis, writing for the Saudi Arabian newspaper Arab News, accused the MEE of propagating rumours and fabrications regarding Qatar's state enemies such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt, while simultaneously remaining silent on the misdeeds of Qatar's own members of its royal family, and said that MEE functions as an "extension to Al Jazeera" without being accused of being a state-owned news outlet yet hosting a rotation of columnists and Al Jazeera employees.

[10] In April 2020, MEE was one of 20 websites targeted by hackers that cybersecurity experts, ESET, have linked to an Israeli surveillance company called Candiru.

After initial denials, Saudi Arabia stated that he was killed by rogue assassins inside the consulate building with "premeditated intention".