Qatar calls for retaliation against Israel after strike in Doha

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Tuesday vowed retaliation against Israel after an airstrike in Doha that targeted Hamas’s political leadership. “The State of Qatar is committed to act in a decisive way with anything that would target its territories and will reserve the right to retaliate and will take all the needed measures to retaliate,” al-Thani said at a news conference, speaking through a translator. He added that Qatar’s minister of State will meet on Wednesday to “review all the policies and directives in order to deter such actions and measures in t

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Tuesday vowed retaliation against Israel after an airstrike in Doha that targeted Hamas’s political leadership. “The State of Qatar is committed to act in a decisive way with anything that would target its territories and will reserve the right to retaliate and will take all the needed measures to retaliate,” al-Thani said at a news conference, speaking through a translator. He added that Qatar’s minister of State will meet on Wednesday to “review all the policies and directives in order to deter such actions and measures in the future so that it cannot happen again.” Al-Thani condemned the strike as “state terrorism” and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of threatening regional security while violating the sovereignty of neighboring nations. “I think that we have reached a decisive moment. There should be retaliation from the whole region in the face of those barbaric actions that only reflects one thing: It reflects the barbarism of this person that is leading the region, unfortunately, to a point where we cannot address any situation and we cannot repair anything, and we cannot work within the frameworks of international laws. He just violates all those international laws,” al-Thani said, referring to Netanyahu. The White House confirmed that the U.S. military notified the Trump administration about Israel’s plans. “The Trump administration was notified by the United States military that Israel was attacking Hamas, which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar,” spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Qatar, however, denied being informed in advance. A spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the claim “completely false.” “The call that was received from an American official came during the sound of the explosions that resulted from the Israeli attack in Doha,” Majed al-Ansari wrote in a statement on X. Qatar has played a central role in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. It helped broker a pause in fighting in Gaza in November 2023 and a six-week ceasefire in January 2025, efforts that drew praise from both former U.S. President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump. Israel struck central Doha just days after Trump warned Hamas’s negotiating team to push forward with talks. Washington has accused Hamas of stalling negotiations, while Israel has faced repeated accusations of undermining them.