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‘Netanyahu killed hope for…’: Qatari PM's big statement after Israeli's strikes on Hamas in Doha
Qatar's Prime Minister condemned Israel's airstrike on Hamas leaders in Doha, stating it eliminated hope for Gaza hostages.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al- Thani has warned that an Israeli strike in Doha targeting Hamas leaders killed hope for Gaza hostages. He also called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be "brought to justice".
On Tuesday, the Israeli military conducted deadly strikes targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar, a US ally, a first in the oil-rich Gulf that rattled a region long shielded from conflict.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called Israel’s attempted assassination of Hamas leaders in Doha “barbaric".
"I think that what Netanyahu has done yesterday, he just killed any hope for those hostages," the Qatari prime minister said.
He added that Doha is reportedly “reassessing everything” around its involvement in future ceasefire talks and discussing next steps with Washington.
The airstrike, just three months after Iran launched a retaliatory attack on a US airbase in Qatar, also cast serious doubt on Qatar-mediated Gaza ceasefire talks and undermined security reassurances to the Gulf from key ally Washington, AFP reported.
“We were thinking that we are dealing with civilized people,” Al-Thani told CNN’s Becky Anderson.
“That’s the way we are dealing with others. And the action that (Netanyahu) took – I cannot describe it, but it’s a barbaric action,” he added.
“I was meeting one of the hostage’s families the morning of the attack… They are counting on this (ceasefire) mediation, they have no other hope for that," Al-Thani said.
The attack in Doha was nothing less than “state terror,” Al-Thani said in the interview.
Earlier on Wednesday, defence minister Israel Katz vowed that Israel would "act against its enemies anywhere" while Netanyahu urged Qatar to expel Hamas officials or hold them to account, “because if you don't, we will”.
Qatar has hosted Hamas's political bureau since 2012 with Washington's blessing, and has been a key mediator in Gaza talks alongside Egypt and the United States.
Israel's military said it struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Wednesday, including in the capital Sanaa, killing 35 people according to the rebels.
Palestinian militant group Hamas said six people were killed in Tuesday's strikes in Qatar, but its senior leaders had survived, affirming "the enemy's failure to assassinate our brothers in the negotiating delegation".
The White House said US President Donald Trump did not agree with Israel's decision to take military action.
Trump said he was not notified in advance, and when he heard, asked his envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar immediately, but the attack had already started.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, sought to justify the decision, telling an Israeli radio station, "It was not an attack on Qatar; it was an attack on Hamas."
(With inputs from AFP)
