Qatar ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to back efforts to hold Israel responsible for recent strikes that targeted a delegation of senior Hamas officials who were meeting in Doha on Tuesday.
Why It Matters
Growing discontent with Israel among key U.S. partners have raised concerns about potential strains on Washington’s relationships. Arab leaders are signaling that repeated actions that destabilize the region cannot be allowed to continue with impunity.
Trump said he did not support the location of Israeli strikes and that the actions do not serve U.S. interests. Unlike when Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran in June, Qatar is a major non-NATO ally, which Trump prioritized visiting on his first foreign trip since retaking office, and has been mediating alongside the U.S. for a Gaza ceasefire. It also gifted Trump with a $400-million Boeing 747 jet.
What To Know
Qatar claimed it received no prior notification of the blasts that hit several locations across the capital, including residential buildings housing Hamas members, stating that information from the U.S. arrived 10 minutes into the attack. Trump, however, said Qatar had been informed of the “impending” attack, but that “it was too late to stop.”
Arab and regional leaders reacted strongly to the strikes and condemned them as a blatant aggression and violation of Qatar’s sovereignty. Hamas confirmed that six people were killed in the Doha strike, including the son of senior leader Khalil al-Hayya, his chief of staff and three bodyguards.
A Qatari security officer was also killed. Israel has not confirmed if senior Hamas officials were killed but Hamas said the attack “failed” to do so and that its leaders survived.
The Qatari emir called on the international community to meet its “legal and moral responsibilities” and punish those involved, telling Trump in a phone call that Washington should support such a “just approach,” according to Qatar News Agency.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that in the previous days, negotiations had been ongoing with full effort in response to a U.S. demand to discuss its latest ceasefire proposal, which came with an ultimatum for Hamas.
“Yet, the Israeli side has sabotaged every opportunity for peace,” he said in a Tuesday press conference. “Does the international community need more to see who the bully in the region is?” he added.
Backed by the U.S. in its goal to defeat Hamas, Israel hailed the operation, saying it targeted “terrorists” who planned the attack of October 7, 2023. The strikes are believed to have been carried with more than 10 fighter jets, according to media reports.
Qatar also has the support and solidarity of regional countries and beyond as well as from the European Union and the United Nations.
Saudi Arabia, another key Trump ally, said the country is making all its capacities available to support Qatar in whatever actions it pursues and warned of what it described as “grave consequences resulting from the Israeli occupation’s persistence in its criminal transgressions,” its foreign ministry stated.
What People Are Saying
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign secretary said: “Everyone saw how our air defense deterred a barrage of missiles that were launched from Iran, but unfortunately the Israeli enemy used weapons that this radar did not detect.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press: “I’m not thrilled about it, I’ll be giving a full statement tomorrow. But I will tell you this, I was very unhappy about it. Very unhappy about every aspect.”
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told Al Jazeera Wednesday: “Israel wants to impose its dominance over the region, and the scale of the threat is large and growing.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on X on Tuesday: “Israel’s attack today on the Hamas negotiation delegation in Qatar has once again clearly demonstrated the blind rage of the [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government and its intent to deepen the conflict and instability…Those who make terrorism a state policy will never achieve their goals.”
Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati government adviser, wrote on X: “The security of the Arab Gulf states is indivisible, and we stand heart and soul with the sisterly State of Qatar, condemning the treacherous Israeli attack that targeted it, and affirming our full solidarity with it in confronting this aggression.”
What Happens Next
Qatar is yet to announce details of its next course of action in response to Israel, which has vowed to continue its mission against “enemies everywhere, at every range.”
It remains to see what steps Trump is taking to de-escalate tensions and maintain relations with partners in the region.
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