President Donald Trump chided Israel on Tuesday over its attack targeting Hamas’ leadership in Qatar, a country that has hosted Gaza peace negotiations and a military base for thousands of U.S. troops.
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the decision to carry out the attack.
He added, “I view Qatar as a strong Ally and friend of the U.S., and feel very badly about the location of the attack.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a similar statement at Tuesday’s briefing.
Speaking to reporters later that night, Trump said, “I’m not thrilled about it.”
“I was very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect, and we got to get the hostages back. But I was very unhappy about the way that went down,” he said of the attack.
Trump has largely supported Netanyahu during ramped-up Israeli military operations in Gaza, which in recent days have led to the demolition of several high-rise buildings and dozens of deaths in the densely populated urban environment of Gaza City.
Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the military strike in Qatar targeted the planners of Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which saw 1,200 people killed and around 250 people taken hostage.
“These are the same terrorists, terrorist chiefs, who planned, launched and celebrated the horrific massacres of October 7th,” he said.
Trump’s criticism may have stemmed from his being kept in the dark about Israel’s attack plans. He wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. military informed his administration that “Israel was attacking Hamas which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the Capital of Qatar.”
The attack could easily derail all diplomatic efforts for a peace deal. On Friday, Trump said the United States is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
At the same time, Trump wrote Tuesday that “eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.” The comment made his public criticism 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 limbo, particularly after Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister, called the Israeli strike an act of “treachery.”
Trump spoke to Al Thani and the emir of Qatar on Tuesday to reassure them that such an attack would not be repeated.
Still, it is clear that the attack has created some friction between the United States and Qatar. Al Thani was not shy about disputing Trump’s account of the events leading up to the attack.
Trump posted that he had “immediately” instructed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to inform Qatar about the impending attack. Al Thani said the first call the Qataris received from a U.S. official was 10 minutes after the attack.
