Category World News

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has said that there must be a “collective response” to Israel’s attack on the Qatari capital Doha, as Arab leaders rushed to the Gulf nation to express solidarity.

“There is a response that will happen from the region. This response is currently under consultation and discussion with other partners in the region,” he told US media outlet CNN on Wednesday, adding that “the entire Gulf region is at risk”.

“We are hoping for something meaningful that deters Israel from continuing this bullying,” Sheikh Mohammed added, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leading the region into “chaos”.

“We understand some sort of regional meeting will be held here in Qatar. We know that the countries have pulled together their own legal team. They are looking at all legal avenues to have Netanyahu tried for breaking international law,” Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said.

“So yeah, the pressure is definitely mounting on Israel, not only from Qatar, but obviously on a regional and a wider international level. And that’s what I think he’s obviously trying to do in giving these very forceful statements to the US network, CNN.”

The Israeli military targeted Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday as they were meeting to discuss the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by US President Donald Trump. At least seven people were killed in the attack, but Hamas said its leadership survived the assassination bid. Qatar says two of its security officers were killed in the attack that has drawn global condemnation.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Israel’s attack in a phone call with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “These strikes are unacceptable. I condemn them. I reaffirmed France’s commitment to the sovereignty and security of Qatar,” he posted on X.

The attack was part of a wider wave of Israeli strikes extending beyond its immediate borders, and marked the sixth country attacked in just 72 hours and the seventh since the start of this year. On Wednesday, Israel killed 35 people in an attack on Yemen.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said on Wednesday that Israel’s strike on Qatar is a warning to oil-rich Gulf countries that they would not be spared in the future if armed groups in the region are defeated.

“We are on the side of Qatar that was subjected to an aggression and we also stand with the Palestinian resistance,” Naim Kassem said. He added that the Israeli strike is part of its attempts to create a “Greater Israel” in large parts of the Middle East.

The “Greater Israel” concept supported by ultranationalist Israelis is understood to refer to an expansionist vision that lays claim to the occupied West Bank, Gaza, parts of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan.

Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza by numerous rights groups, but that has not stopped it from its brutal campaign of bombardment. On Wednesday, Israeli attacks across Gaza killed at least 72 people, taking the total number of Palestinians killed since October 2023 to more than 64,656. Israel has intensified its assault to capture Gaza City – home to more than one million Palestinians.

Sheikh Mohammed, the Qatari prime minister, also said that the Israeli strike was aimed at undermining “any chance of peace” in Gaza.

“Everything about the meeting is very well known to the Israelis and the Americans. It’s not something that we are hiding,” he said of the presence of Hamas officials in Qatar.

“I think that what [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu did yesterday – he just killed any hope for those [Israeli] hostages,” Sheikh Mohammed said about the 20 captives believed to be still alive in Gaza.

Netanyahu appears unfazed

However, Netanyahu appears unfazed by the criticism from global leaders, including the UN secretary-general.

On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister threatened further attacks on Qatar. “I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will,” Netanyahu said.

Qatar has condemned Netanyahu’s “reckless” comments regarding Qatar’s hosting of the Hamas office. “Netanyahu is fully aware that the hosting of the Hamas office took place within the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

It also called out “the shameful attempt therein to justify the cowardly attack that targeted Qatari territory, as well as the explicit threats of future violations of state sovereignty”.

Netanyahu’s threats came despite the US President Donald Trump on Tuesday saying no further attacks would happen on Qatari soil.

The attack on Tuesday was the first such attack by Israel on Qatar, which has been a key mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and hosts the region’s largest United States military base, Al Udeid airbase, which hosts US troops.

The Qatari prime minister, who is also the foreign minister of the Gulf nation, has dubbed Israel’s targeting of Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday “state terrorism”.

“I have no words to express how enraged we are from such an action … we are betrayed,” he said in the interview with the cable network.

Netanyahu “needs to be brought to justice. He’s the one who’s wanted at the International Criminal Court. He broke every international law,” Sheikh Mohammed said, referring to the arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister for war crimes.

Arab states express solidarity with Qatar

Meanwhile, Gulf leaders have visited Doha to rally around Qatar, with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan calling the Israeli action “criminal” and a threat to regional stability.

In a meeting on Wednesday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, Sheikh Al Nahyan reaffirmed his country’s “resolute solidarity with Qatar and its steadfast support for all measures taken to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its people”, according to the UAE state media outlet WAM.

“He [Sheikh Al Nahyan] stressed that the criminal attack constituted a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and of all international laws and norms, warning that such actions threaten the region’s security, stability, and prospects for peace,” WAM added.

The crown princes of Kuwait and Jordan also travelled to Doha on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, will arrive in Doha on Thursday.

“We will stand with the State of Qatar in all measures it takes, without limits, and we will harness all our capabilities for that,” Prince Mohammed said in an address to the Shura Council on Wednesday.

“We reject and condemn the attacks of the Israeli occupation in the region, the latest of which was the brutal aggression against the State of Qatar,” the crown prince added.

“This requires Arab, Islamic, and international action to confront this aggression and to take international measures to stop the occupation authority and deter it from its criminal practices aimed at destabilising the region’s security and stability.”

In a brief interview with reporters on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he was “not thrilled” about Israel’s strike.

“This was a decision made by [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Still, it remains unclear whether the Trump administration had been caught off guard, whether the US had indicated even tacit approval for such a strike, or if the attack could represent a rupture in Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel.

Independent Middle East Analyst Adam Shapiro said if the US was not made aware of the attack, it was not “something new”.

Poland has intercepted Russian drones that were flying over its airspace after completing a mission in western Ukraine. It’s the first time a NATO member nation has fired shots in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

World leaders were quick to criticise Israel for its attack in Qatar on Tuesday, targeting Hamas political leaders discussing a ceasefire in Gaza.

United States President Donald Trump, typically one of Israel’s most vocal supporters, said he was “very unhappy about every aspect” of the strike. Germany, long a consistent backer of Israel, declared the attack “unacceptable” and a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty. And India, which, under its nationalist leader Narendra Modi, has largely supported Israel, warned of “escalation” and said it was “deeply concerned”.

But the rhetorical condemnation of Israel’s attack may not translate into meaningful policy shifts. Israel has continually ignored international law during its war on Gaza, where it has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, destroyed the enclave, and caused a famine. It has also repeatedly attacked neighbouring countries and rejected any international criticism it has faced.

“One could presume that these strikes would mean that Israeli allies who have been rather cautious in their criticism would change their direction, but this is not particularly likely,” said HA Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Royal United Service Institute and Center for American Progress.

“In terms of policy, Israel has been engaged in a massive war of devastation on the Gaza Strip, leading to accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, and violating the sovereignty of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and Tunisia over the past two years,” Hellyer added. “None of that led to any substantial changes in policy towards the Israeli government from these states, and I don’t expect this to either.”

Global shift

Qatar’s growing diplomatic influence and its strong ties to the US lend extra significance to the Israeli attack, which failed in its mission to kill Hamas leaders, but did kill five lower-ranking Hamas members and a Qatari security officer. However, analysts cautioned that Qatar’s standing with the US might not be enough to shift global policy towards Israel.

“International public opinion is definitely shifting quite rapidly,” said Karim Emile Bitar, a professor of international relations at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut. “However, I think that this shift in public opinion is mostly related to what’s happening in Gaza, the famine and the fact that even leading Israeli intellectuals and scholars are now calling it a genocide.”

Bitar said that the attack on Qatar would most likely lead to a hardening of attitudes towards Israel in the Gulf, rather than elsewhere.

Gulf leaders have already visited Doha in solidarity or are planning to, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has said that Gulf states were discussing a response to Israel.

For other countries, the attack on Qatar is the latest evidence that Israel is unconcerned with international law, and is creating an increasingly unstable Middle East, which is unpopular among the public in many countries. Their concern about that, weighed against how much they are willing to anger Israel and its chief ally, the US, determines how far they are willing to go in terms of action against Israel.

One of the most notable shifts has been in Europe, where a number of countries – as well as the European Union – have become increasingly critical of Israel, and have begun to threaten sanctions.

Most recently, Spain has imposed a formal arms embargo on Israel and banned ships carrying fuel for Israel’s military from passing through its ports, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has suggested sanctions – including the suspension of the EU-Israel free trade agreement – could be introduced.

Double standards

But action against Israel from Western countries is still minimal in comparison with the isolation and sanctions placed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

That is despite Israel becoming increasingly unrestrained in committing violence across the Middle East.

On Wednesday, one day after its strike on Qatar and just weeks after assassinating the prime minister of the Houthi rebel government in Yemen, Israel struck the country, including a residential area in the capital, Sanaa, killing at least 35 people. And on two occasions this week, Israel has been accused of launching two drone attacks on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a peaceful mission attempting to break the blockade of Gaza, and currently docked in Tunisia.

That is in addition to its previous attacks on Syria, Lebanon and Iran.

Neither has Israel indicated that it regrets the attack upon Qatar, nor given other states reason to hope that their territory would not be host to similar attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared entirely unrepentant, saying of the strike, “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.”

Prime Minister’s Office:

Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation.

Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.

Other senior figures went further. Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, who is currently negotiating an investment deal in India, despite its apparent concern over the strikes on Qatar, wrote that the enemies of Israel, whom he referred to as “terrorists”, would “have no immunity from the long arm of Israel anywhere in the world”.

“Israel has crossed red line after red line after red line and nothing has happened,” Rob Geist Pinfold, lecturer in international security at King’s College London said. “Every time it’s crossed the Rubicon, it’s gone right back and done it again.”

“European states can say and do anything they like,” he added, “but at the moment, there just isn’t a sufficient deterrent to stop them striking anywhere they like.”

Trump is key

Geist Pinfold did point to one man who could change the way Israel acts: Donald Trump.

“The only figure that can stop them is Donald Trump,” the academic said.

The US provides billions of dollars in support to Israel, as well as arming it, ensuring it has military superiority over all its neighbours. It also supports Israel diplomatically, ensuring that Security Council resolutions against Israel are rare, and has even sanctioned officials from the International Criminal Court for having the temerity to charge Netanyahu for war crimes.

Trump himself is viewed favourably in Israel for his pro-Israel policies, particularly in his first term, when he recognised Jerusalem – including occupied East Jerusalem – as the capital of Israel.

Many Israeli right-wingers view Trump’s presidency as a perfect opportunity to carry out their goals, such as the annexation of the occupied West Bank. They believe the US will do little to stop them.

And while Trump has rhetorically pushed for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, he has largely backed Israel’s position, and has even suggested the Palestinian enclave be transformed into a “Gaza Riviera”, involving what critics have called the ethnic cleansing of the Strip’s Palestinian population.

The bombing of Qatar, a country Trump visited soon after taking office for his second term this year, is, for the president, a different matter from Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. However, the White House narrative on Israel’s bombing has already afforded Washington plausible deniability, saying that the US government only found out about the attack at the last minute, and tried to inform Qatar in time.

A real indication of whether the US is frustrated with Israel will be if Trump now pushes his ally to finally agree to a ceasefire deal and end the war in Gaza, as well as its foreign adventurism.

Based on past evidence, that may be unlikely. But if the US does, it has a chance of opening the floodgates and further isolating Israel internationally.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA, was shot at during a campus event at Utah Valley University. President Trump has posted on social media that Kirk has died.