Doha Attack
Qatar, a mediator between Israel and Hamas, says bombing was a 'cowardly Israeli attack' on Hamas headquarters
Israel targets Hamas leadership with strike in Doha, Qatar
5 hours ago
Duration 4:41
Israel launched a strike targeting Hamas's leadership in Qatar on Tuesday, officials said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike was in retaliation for the shooting attack at a Jerusalem bus stop Monday that killed five people. Qatar, a mediator between Israel and Hamas in the two-year-long war in Gaza, says the bombing was a 'cowardly Israeli attack' on Hamas headquarters.
The Latest
- The attack on Hamas headquarters has received widespread condemnation by world leaders, as well as UN Secretary General António Guterres, who say it could jeopardize peace talks to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
- Qatar described the strike as a"cowardly Israeli attack" on Hamas's political headquarters in its capital, Doha.
- The assault marks the second time the energy-rich nation has been directly attacked in the Gaza war.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Doha strike was in retaliation for the deadly shooting at a Jerusalem bus stop Monday and the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks.
- U.S. President Donald Trump promised Qatar such an attack on its soil would not happen again but called eliminating Hamas a"worthy goal."
- Hamas has named the five members of its militant group who were killed in the strike, including a top negotiator's son.
Updates
September 9
Doha strike will likely deepen Israel's international isolation
Chris Brown
Beyond Israel’s borders, the strike on U.S. ally Qatar has clearly rattled the Gulf region. The government of the United Arab Emirates called Israel’s actions Tuesday “treacherous” and said it stood in full solidarity with Qatar.
The UAE had previously warned Israel that any move to annex the occupied West Bank was a “red line” — with the implication being, the move could void the normalization agreement the UAE signed with Israel during Trump’s first term as part of the Abraham Accords.
The possibility that an unrestrained Israel — which of late has also launched strikes or sent its troops into Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iran — might act against Hamas in other countries will add more anxiety to the region.
What U.S. President Donald Trump says and does in the days ahead will be key. The left-leaning, Israeli publication Haaretz, which has been strongly critical of Netanyahu and his Gaza campaign, has written extensively that prior to the Doha strike, Trump had essentially outsourced U.S. policy on Gaza to the Israelis. The U.S. president had given Netanyahu a free hand to do what he wanted in Gaza, Haaretz alleged, with the only condition that the Israeli leader wrap up the war soon.
The question now is: will the fact that Trumpt “feels very badly” about the attack on Qatar lead him to exert more pressure on Netanyahu to end the conflict even sooner? White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked repeatedly Tuesday if Israel will face any sanctions for its actions in Doha, but she refused to say.
Attack could widen political divide inside Israel
Chris Brown
Within Israel, the thousands of protestors taking to the streets of Tel Aviv lately have been openly questioning whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was really trying to end the war in Gaza and bring the remaining 20 or so living hostages still held by Hamas home, or was it just going through the motions.
Netanyahu, after all, relies on the support of far-right parties to stay in power, and some of them see a historic opportunity to seize Palestinian territory in Gaza and repopulate it with Jewish settlers. They have pushed for more war and more destruction of Palestinian homes and communities, according to some Israeli news reports.
Netanyahu’s opponents — particularly the families of the remaining hostages — will likely see the Qatar attack as validation of their fears and opposition among his allies may also intensify.
What’s next as Qatar exits role as mediator?
Chris Brown
According to Hamas, at least some of its high-level negotiators survived the Israeli strike on the group’s Doha headquarters Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean the ceasefire negotiations they were presiding over will pull through as well.
Arab media outlets are reporting that Qatar will abandon its role as a mediator in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in the aftermath of Israel’s assasination attempt on the militant group’s top officials.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s leadership for more than 13 years, had managed to parlay its diplomatic connections with the United States and, through the U.S., with Israel, into a pivotal position as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.
With Qatar stepping down, that could open the door for Egypt to play a larger role — or Israel’s actions could potentially torpedo ceasefire talks altogether.
That’s assuming, of course, there’s still any point in talking.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has just released a statement on Israel's strike against Hamas leadership in Doha, calling it"an intolerable expansion of violence and an affront to Qatar’s sovereignty."
"Regardless of their objectives, such attacks pose a grave risk of escalating conflict throughout the region," Carney wrote on X.
The prime minister said Israel's actions"directly imperil efforts to advance peace and security, secure the release of all hostages, and achieve a lasting ceasefire."
Carney also noted Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has played a"highly constructive role" in peace talks to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Trump stops far short of endorsing Israel’s attack
The White House statement on the airstrikes in Doha is definitely not a full-throated endorsement of the Netanyahu government’s move to target Hamas leadership on Qatari soil.
“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,” said the statement, read by press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a briefing.
Later in the briefing, when a reporter asked whether Trump thinks Israel was undermining peace negotiations with these recent airstrikes, Leavitt responded by reading that part of the statement once again, word for word.
The statement does go on to describe eliminating Hamas as a"worthy goal." However, if Netanyahu was expecting the U.S. president would warmly congratulate him on the strike, he's likely disappointed.
The White House says Trump spoke to the Israeli prime minister after the attack but provided no details about what was said other than what Leavitt previously told reporters: that the Israeli prime minister told Trump he wanted to make peace.
French president says Israeli strikes ‘unacceptable’
Anna Cunningham
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is dealing with his own domestic issues and the resignation of his prime minister today, says the “Israeli strikes on Qatar are unacceptable, whatever the reason.”
He expressed his solidarity with Qatar and its emir, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, in a post on X.
Macron echoed the comments of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying that under no circumstances should war spread throughout the region.
France, like Canada, the U.K., Belgium and Malta, is expected to recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly meeting later this month.
Trump told Qatar similar attack won't happen again 'on their soil'
Mike Crawley
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack, Karoline Leavitt told reporters, and the Israeli prime minister told him that he wants to make peace and make it quickly.
"President Trump believes this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace," said the White House press secretary.
Trump also spoke to the emir and prime minister of Qatar and"thanked them for their support and friendship to our country," said Leavitt."He assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil."
Reporters asked Leavitt whether Trump had spoken to Netanyahu before the attack. She didn't directly answer the question but emphasized the U.S. president spoke to the Israeli prime minister after the strikes.
