970x125
The U.S. and Qatar are reassessing their security partnership in an effort to deter a future Israeli strike, a senior official told The Hill, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to hit the Persian Gulf country again if Hamas officials are not expelled.
In an interview with The Hill, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari raged against Netanyahu as an “unhinged, narcissistic leader” and said Qatar is only looking to grow its security partnership with the U.S. in response to Tuesday’s strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha.
Al-Ansari, who is also an adviser to Qatar’s prime minister, welcomed President Trump’s “condemnation and determination” to deter a future Israeli attack, speaking via Zoom from Doha.
“I think the whole world has a lot of cards it hasn’t played with Netanyahu, and I think there was a lot of reluctance internationally, including in the U.S., to take a lot of action in the hope that Prime Minister Netanyahu will sign a deal, will cease fire and will get his hostages out through diplomatic means,” al-Ansari said.
Qatar is in high-level discussions with the U.S. to reassess its security partnership, al-Ansari said, adding that it “will take some time” because it had never before considered Israel as a direct threat.
“Now, the gravest concern that we have is being attacked by Israel, which is something that was never the case in Qatar in all of its history,” he said.
A major escalation
At 3:46 p.m. on Sept. 9, explosions rocked a residential neighborhood in Doha after Israel launched strikes targeting senior Hamas political officials.
Trump said he was alerted by the U.S. military, which tracked Israeli fighter jets heading toward the Persian Gulf. By the time Trump learned of Israel’s plans to strike Doha and then moved to notify the Qataris, explosions were underway, Qatari officials said.
“This is an attack orchestrated by a megalomaniac who is leading a radical government in Israel. It has nothing to do with the United States,” al-Ansari said.
The explosions lasted for less than five minutes, al-Ansari said, and in that time, six people were killed — five Hamas members and a Qatari security official — and at least three others were wounded.
The strikes marked a major escalation of Israel’s war against Hamas and introduced a new level of volatility in a region fraught with conflict.
Qatar has not yet committed to expelling any remaining Hamas officials in the country. Trump expressed frustration with Netanyahu over the strike but has not signaled any punitive measures.
Qatar said it has the right to retaliate against Israel, but al-Ansari said they are pursuing legal avenues at the moment through international bodies. On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council condemned strikes on Qatar but did not name Israel in its statement. The U.S. often vetoes resolutions directly criticizing Israel.
Investigations are ongoing to determine more details of Israel’s attack. Al-Ansari said if airplanes were used, they eluded Qatar’s radar systems, “which are very advanced, and the whole region depends on the radar system in Qatar for monitoring such activity.”
“We know that it was an aerial attack, and the fact that our radar could not find the airplanes, catch the airplanes in the air, would tell us that they have used certain airplanes that are not detectable by the radar system,” he said.
A trusted broker
Doha serves as one of the main venues for indirect talks between Israel and Hamas over efforts to secure the release of hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas said its chief, Khalil al-Hayya, survived the attack, and Netanyahu has vowed further attacks against any country that “harbors terrorists.”
Hamas opened a political office in Doha in 2012 at the request of the U.S. and with Israel’s approval, Qatari officials have said, as a way to keep lines of communication open.
Qatar has developed a reputation as a trusted broker in resolving high-stakes negotiations. It was the venue for U.S. talks with the Taliban over America’s exit from the country and has helped free U.S. citizens detained abroad.
Al-Ansari said the Gaza ceasefire talks are one of “the most difficult mediations” Qatar has participated in, and he said “extreme pressure” was being applied on a renewed U.S. effort to get to a deal, with Hamas expected to issue a reply on Sept. 12.
“Obviously, I can’t now say what that answer would have been,” he said.
A ceasefire and hostage release could have saved the lives of nearly 20 people who are being held hostage by Hamas and returned the bodies of 28 others. A truce would have provided relief for millions of Palestinians suffering under famine-like conditions and staved off a major Israeli offensive into their capital city, where 1 million residents are being told to evacuate.
“It is very clear that Prime Minister Netanyahu has made sure that he would kill any chance of talks continuing or happening,” al-Ansari said.
“That said, we will not be deterred from finding an end to the war.”
Republicans divided
While Qatar’s relationship with Hamas has been the subject of scrutiny on Capitol Hill, former President Biden designated Qatar as a major non-NATO ally in 2022. It hosts America’s largest military presence at Al Udeid Air Base.
In May, Trump stopped in Qatar during his trip to the Persian Gulf, celebrating a $1.2 trillion economic commitment and accepting a $400 million luxury Boeing jumbo jet as a temporary replacement for Air Force One.
Some senior Republicans have broken with the president’s criticism of Israel’s strike, putting their support behind Netanyahu.
“I don’t think we told Pakistan before we took out [Osama] Bin Laden,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), referring to the mastermind of the Taliban’s attacks against the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said “Israel deserves to be able to take out Hamas.”
And Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, likened Israel’s determination to eliminate Hamas as equal to the U.S. fight against the Nazis in World War II.
“I would say, that if you’re a leader of Hamas and had anything to do with the invasion of Israel, it is a very, very dangerous position to be in,” he said.
Al-Ansari pushed back and said those senators should “look into the facts and not be blinded by the smoke screen that Netanyahu offers.”
“This is an attack on a sovereign state, on a residential neighborhood with six schools, a number of nurseries and residents who are all civilian,” he said, noting American students are also enrolled in schools nearby.
“This is an attack that happened behind the United States. If your priority is the national security of the United States, is the foreign policy of the United States and the international standing of the United States, then you should question when your allies do things behind your back and attack sovereign countries where your army, your people, more than 10,000 servicemen and women operate.”
While Trump has largely demonstrated steadfastness with Israel, most notably joining strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, the president has shown frustration with Netanyahu at times.
The failure to end the war between Israel and Hamas has delayed Trump’s goal of expanding the Abraham Accords, a crowning achievement of his first administration that brokered ties between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel’s strikes on Qatar risk weakening the accords, al-Ansari said, accusing Netanyahu of pursuing regional hegemony over regional integration. He said that will be a subject of talks Monday in Doha of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
“That will bring together all the leaders of the Arab and Muslim world to discuss how to deal with the greatest threat to international peace and security, Benjamin Netanyahu, and how to do that collectively.”
