No response returned
As the people killed in were buried at Doha's Grand Mosque on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to launch new attacks on the country — a close U.S. ally — if it refused to eject the U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist group's political representatives.
Qatar's government has condemned Israel's Tuesday strikes, saying the "criminal attack constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of the State of Qatar and its people."
The U.S. has relied on Qatar to act as a go-between with Hamas, with which it has long had ties. Working through Hamas' political office in Doha, both the Trump administration and the Biden administration before that have pushed hard, along with Egypt, to broker a ceasefire in the nearly two-year , sparked by the Palestinian group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Senior Israeli officials have also traveled to Qatar many times to take part in these negotiations since the war began.
Qatar also hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, the Al-Udeid Air Base, where thousands of American military personnel are stationed.
President Trump, in a post on his Truth Social network on Tuesday, said the White House had been "notified by the United States Military that Israel was attacking Hamas which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha."
American officials told TheNews that the U.S. was notified of the attack by Israel as it was about to happen, and that the U.S. did not coordinate with Israel on planning the strikes.
"This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me," in his social media post. "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."
He called "eliminating" Hamas "a worthy goal," but added that he had spoken with both Netanyahu and leaders in Qatar, and had assured the prime minister in Doha, "that such a thing will not happen again on their soil."
For his part, Netanyahu has continued to defend the attack and suggested Israeli could launch another one.
"I say to Qatar and all nations who harbor terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice," Netanyahu said Wednesday. "Because if you don't, we will."
Netanyahu drew a parallel between Israel's attack in Doha and the U.S. invasion of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2002 terrorist attacks on the United States.
"We went after the terrorist masterminds who committed the October 7th massacre. And we did so in Qatar, which gives safe haven, it harbors terrorists, it finances Hamas," Netanyahu said.
President Trump said in his social media post that, in their phone calls, Netanyahu "told me that he wants to make Peace," but some regional officials have said the attack in Doha doomed any chances for a brokered end to the war in Gaza.
Qatar's prime minister said Netanyahu had "killed any hope" of returning the remaining 48 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, 20 of whom are believed to be alive in Gaza.
Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said, before appearing Thursday at the United Nations, that Israel's attack had inflamed anti-Israeli sentiments among many Arab nations in the Middle East, telling CNN: "I think that what Netanyahu has done yesterday (Tuesday), he just killed any hope for those hostages."
Al Thani spoke as thousands of Palestinians continued to flee Gaza City ahead of Israel's ongoing offensive there. The numbers leaving the city have grown in recent days, though many have not heeded Israel's orders to leave because they say they no longer have the strength or money to relocate.
The Israeli military's plans for the next phases of its operation in what it calls Hamas' last remaining stronghold are aimed at taking over the largest Palestinian city, which is already devastated from earlier raids and is , according to the world's leading expert body on food crises.
The plans have drawn widespread condemnation and added to Israel's global isolation, which intensified further this week following the strike on Qatar.
Al Thani was expected to attend a U.N. Security Council meeting later Thursday, part of a diplomatic push by Qatar after the strike. The Foreign Ministry in Doha also said Thursday that it was convening an emergency Arab-Islamic leaders summit next week in Qatar to discuss the attack.
Hamas said Tuesday that its top leaders survived the strike but that five lower-level members were killed, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya — Hamas' leader for Gaza and its top negotiator — as well as three bodyguards and the head of al-Hayya's office.
Hamas, which has sometimes only confirmed the assassination of its leaders months later, offered no immediate proof that al-Hayya and other senior figures had survived. Israel has not confirmed the identities of any members of the group killed by its strikes.
Qatar has hosted Hamas' political leadership for years in Doha, in part over a request by the U.S. to encourage negotiations between the militant group and Israel. this arrangement and before October 7, 2023, it had also given for Qatar to channel millions of dollars of cash support to Hamas each month.
