Trump lashes out at Israel after military strike in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders
President Donald Trump reprimanded Israel on Tuesday about his attack targeting Hamas in Qatar, a country that hosted Gaza peace negotiations and a military base for thousands of American troops.
“The unilaterally bombing in Qatar, a sovereign nation and an ally close to the United States, which works very hard and take risks with us to negotiate peace, does not advance the objectives of Israel or America,” Trump wrote to Trum social, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the decision to carry out the attack.
He added: “I consider Qatar as a strong ally and a friend of the United States, and I feel very bad about the location of the attack.”
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, read a similar statement during the Tuesday briefing.
Addressing journalists later in the evening, Trump said: “I’m not delighted with that.”
“I was very unhappy with that, very unhappy with all aspects, and we were able to recover the hostages. But I was very unhappy with the way it happened,” he said about the attack.
Trump largely supported Netanyahu during the accelerated Israeli military operations in Gaza, which has led in recent days to the demolition of several high -rise buildings and dozens of deaths in the densely populated urban environment of Gaza City.
Trump criticisms may have provoked his entry into ignorance of Israel’s attack plans. He wrote on Truth Social that the American army informed his administration that “Israel attacked Hamas which, unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar”.
The attack could easily derail all diplomatic efforts for a peace agreement. Trump said on Friday that the United States was in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
At the same time, Trump wrote Tuesday that “the elimination of Hamas, who took advantage of the misery of those who live in Gaza, is a worthy objective”. The commentary rendered its public critic of Israel even more unexpected.
The attack leaves the status of the talks to end the conflict in Gaza – and the fate of the remaining hostages – in the limbo, in particular after the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar, described the Israeli strike as “betrayal”.
Trump spoke on Tuesday in Al Thani and the Emir of Qatar to reassure them that such an attack would not be repeated.
However, it is clear that the attack has created friction between the United States and Qatar. Al Thani did not hesitate to challenge Trump’s story about the events that led to the attack.
Trump said he “immediately” asked his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to inform Qatar of the imminent attack. Al Thani said the first call that the Qataris received from an American official was 10 minutes after the attack.
