US president Donald Trump has said he was “not thrilled” about Israel’s air strike on Qatar in which Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Mr Trump told reporters he would give a full statement on Wednesday, but said he was very unhappy about the Israeli strike.
“I’m not thrilled about it,” Mr Trump said as he arrived at a Washington restaurant. “It’s not a good situation but I will say this: We want the hostages back, but we’re not thrilled about the way it went down today.”
He said he was “very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect”.
READ MORE
Earlier, Mr Trump said that the decision to strike Qatar was made by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu alone.
“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,” Mr Trump wrote on social media.
“However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”
Israel struck the headquarters of Hamas’s political leadership in Qatar on Tuesday as the group’s top figures gathered to consider a US proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The strike on the territory of a US ally marked a significant escalation and risked upending talks aimed at winding down the war and freeing hostages.
The attack angered Qatar, an energy-rich Gulf nation hosting thousands of American troops that has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas throughout the 23-month-old war and even before.
It condemned what it referred to as a “flagrant violation of all international laws and norms” as smoke rose over its capital, Doha.
Other key US allies in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, promised their support to Qatar.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Wednesday that the kingdom rejected and condemned Israel’s “assaults” in the region, the latest being Tuesday’s attack on Doha.
“The brutal aggression against the sisterly state of Qatar requires Arab, Islamic and international action,” he said in a televised address.
Hamas said in a statement that its top leaders had survived the strike but that five lower-level members were killed, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya – Hamas’s leader for Gaza and its top negotiator – three bodyguards, and the head of Mr al-Hayya’s office.
The US said Israel alerted it before the strike. But American officials sought to distance the US from the attack. The White House said on Tuesday that Mr Trump believed the Israeli strike was an “unfortunate incident” that did not advance peace in the region.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr Trump had spoken to Mr Netanyahu and “made his thoughts and concerns very clear”.
Ms Leavitt also told reporters that Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had passed along a warning to the Qataris.
But Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari derided the warning, saying in a post on X that it came just as “the explosions from the Israeli strikes were being heard”. – Reuters/AP
