Qatar does not maintain official diplomatic relations with Israel, but was seen as a friendly country in the Middle East
Manoella Smith-In an unprecedented action, on Tuesday (9) performed an attack directed against Hamas’s high leadership at Qatar. Several explosions were heard in the capital, Doha.
The operation targeted by the terrorist group who participate in indirect negotiations to end the conflict in the Gaza track – Hamas maintains his political base in exile in Qatar.
The terrorist group said five of its members died in the operation, but top leaders were not hit. Among the victims is Himam Al-Hayya, son of Hamas’s main negotiator Khalil al-Hayya. Qatar’s Interior Ministry stated in a statement that a member of the country’s military forces was killed in the Israeli attack.
The operation on Tuesday would have reached an accommodation of members of the terrorist group that were involved in the ceasefire negotiations, according to the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Qatari, Majed Al Ansari. Qatar has acted as a mediator to try to end the war that completes almost two years. In a post on social networks, Ansari called the offensive cowardly and criminal.
Other Qataris authorities referred to attack as a “serious climbing” and “flagrant violation of international law.” The country’s prime minister, Mohammed Ben Abdulrahmane Al Thani, reiterated that Qatar has the right to respond to the offensive and will continue to play his role as mediator.
In a letter sent to the United Nations Security Council, seen by Reuters news agency, Qatar Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani says her country “will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior and the continuous destabilization of regional security.”
According to the document, “investigations are underway at the highest level, and more details will be announced as soon as they are available.”
Qatar does not maintain official diplomatic relations with Israel, but it was seen as a friendly country in the Middle East-because of the government of Binyamin Netanyahu accepted that Doha be hosted for indirect negotiations of a ceasefire agreement. With the attack, efforts may fall apart.
According to the broadcaster Al Jazeera, who cited a Hamas employee, the delegation was hit precisely during a ceasefire negotiation meeting. Netanyahu stated that the operation was “totally justified” and that she “can open a door to the end of the war.”
Later, in a joint statement with his defense minister, Israel Katz, said he ordered the attacks in response to the attack on Monday in Jerusalem, who killed six people and was later claimed by Hamas.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump “deeply regrets” Israel’s attack against Qatar and that he was warned by the Netanyahu government about the operation.
According to Leavitt, the Republican asked the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to alert the Qataris authorities. The Middle East country, however, denies that it was warned in advance – the prime Minister said it was warned ten minutes after the attack began.
“Unilaterally bombarding Qatar, a sovereign nation near the US that is hardly and boldly striving to take risks with us to mediate peace, does not favor the goals of Israel or the US,” Leavitt said. “However, eliminating Hamas, which has profit from the suffering of those who live in Gaza, is a valid goal.” Trump, according to the spokesman, would have claimed to Emir do Qatar, Tamim al-Thani, that “such a thing will not happen again in his territory.”
The diplomatic reaction, however, diverged greatly from the tone adopted by the US. World leaders condemned the Israeli attack, reiterated that the action is unacceptable and rated it from a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty.
In June, the Gulf country had already been the target of a missile attack launched by Iran against Al-Hudeid Air Base, in response to US direct involvement in the conflict between Tehran and Tel Aviv. At the time, Trump bombarded the three main plants of the country’s Persian nuclear program and sewed a ceasefire agreement after 12 days of conflict.
