Washington, DC – The administration of US President Donald Trump has said it notified Qatari officials before Israel’s attack on Hamas negotiators in Doha, a claim refuted by the Gulf country.

The statement from the White House on Tuesday came hours after the strike on a residential area in the Gulf country’s capital, Doha. Qatar has been a lead mediator in US-backed ceasefire talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

“The Trump administration was notified by the United States military that Israel was attacking Hamas, which very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” she said. “However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”

Leavitt added that Trump directed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to “inform the Qataris of the impending attack”.

However, Qatar refuted the characterisation, with a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying claims that the government had been “pre-informed of the attack are completely false”.

“The call that was received from an American official came during the sound of the explosions that resulted from the Israeli attack in Doha,” Majed al-Ansari wrote in a statement on X.

Hamas said the attack killed five of its members, but its main negotiating team survived. Among the dead was a Qatari security officer, the country’s Ministry of Interior said. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry has decried the Israeli attack as “cowardly”, while condemning “any action targeting its security and sovereignty”.

Trump later said he felt “very badly about the location of the attack” and that he had assured Qatar that it would not happen again.

“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals.”

Trump repeated the White House claim that he instructed Witkoff to warn Qatar about the attack, but it was “unfortunately, too late to stop the attack”.

“I believe this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for PEACE,” he said.

Hamas holds the US ‘jointly responsible’

The Gulf country had previously helped to broker a pause in fighting in Gaza in November 2023 and a six-week ceasefire in January 2025. Its role had been regularly praised by both the administration of former US President Joe Biden and current President Trump.

Israel struck central Doha just days after Trump issued a warning to Hamas’s negotiating team as he pushed for a new ceasefire. The US has repeatedly accused Hamas of stalling negotiations. Israel has been accused of repeatedly scuttling the talks.

“The Israelis have accepted my Terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.

“I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one!”

Following the attack, Hamas said those targeted had been discussing Trump’s latest proposal.

The group added the strike “confirms beyond doubt that Netanyahu and his government do not want to reach any agreement and are deliberately seeking to thwart all opportunities and thwart international efforts”.

“We hold the US administration jointly responsible with the occupation for this crime, due to its ongoing support for the aggression and crimes of the occupation against our people,” the group said.

Leavitt, meanwhile, told reporters that Trump “believes this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace”.

She said Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the strike, but did not say if he threatened any actions against the close US ally.

The Qatari Amiri Diwan also confirmed in a statement that the US president held a phone call with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and condemned the Israeli attack on Doha.

“For his part, His Highness the Emir affirmed that the State of Qatar condemns and denounces in the strongest terms this reckless, criminal attack and considers it a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and security and a clear breach of the rules and principles of international law,” the Diwan said.

Sheikh Tamim said the attack threatened the stability of the region and obstructed “efforts to de-escalate and reach sustainable diplomatic solutions”.

“Qatar will take all necessary measures to protect its security and preserve its sovereignty,” the statement quoted the emir as saying.

‘Reduced to nothing’

Despite the White House statement, Khalil Jahshan, the executive director of the Arab Center Washington DC, said many countries and residents in the region will still view the Trump administration as complicit.

“When Israel is given a green light to basically wreak havoc over the region and violate international law, violate sovereignty of nations that are not even enemies, but actually very close allies of the United States, one has to wonder: Where does Israel stand, and why would Israel be allowed to do that?” he said.

Qatar, which has remained a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights, was designated a “major non-NATO ally” in 2022, a status the US Department of State describes as being a “powerful symbol” of close strategic ties and a demonstration of “deep respect for the friendship for the countries to which it is extended”.

Jahshan said the honorific, in the wake of Israel’s strike, has been “reduced to nothing”.

“If that status allows you to be exposed to attacks from a US ally with a US green light, then, to me, I would rather not have friends like this,” he said.

Qatar also houses Al Udeid airbase, the largest US military installation in the Middle East. Along with the US Air Force, the base houses the Qatar Emiri Air Force, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, and a total of about 10,000 personnel.

The country has also positioned itself as a diplomatic asset to the US and other Western powers, for years hosting political offices of groups significant to their foreign policy, including Hamas and the Taliban. Qatari officials have said they agreed to host the Hamas office more than a decade ago at the behest of Washington.

Nabeel Khoury, who formerly served as the deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Yemen, said the location of Tuesday’s strike, in the heart of Doha and just kilometres from Al Udeid, left him stunned.

“As cynical as I am and as used as I am to Israeli excesses, I have to say I was shocked,” he said. “I think everybody should be shocked and should be woken up from whatever dream they’re in to the reality that Israel has now obviously become a totally rogue state.”

Khoury said the strike would likely chill diplomacy, further undermining US credibility in the region and giving pause to any groups or allies considering participating in US-backed negotiations.

“Honestly, I don’t see how anybody, especially in the Arab world, can continue to deal with the US,” Khoury said.

Jahshan added that Qatar’s neighbours, including the United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, and Saudi Arabia, which has long been eyed as a crown jewel in Israeli-Arab normalisation, will feel pressure to take a strong stance.