On Monday, Qatar hosted an emergency Arab-Islamic summit to address Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha. Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani denounced the strikes as “barbaric” and called for an end to the “double standard” applied to Israel. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit added that “silence on a crime is a crime.”
In the United States, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders last week called for ending U.S. military aid to Israel. “Netanyahu’s extremist government is completely out of control,” he posted on X. “Not only are they starving children in Gaza, they are now breaking international law by dropping bombs on Qatar, a U.S. security partner.”
For President Donald Trump, however, Israel remains the security partner of choice in the Middle East, and the attack on Qatar has done nothing to change that status. Although Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both issued statements insisting that Israel acted alone in striking Hamas leaders in Qatar, their denials of coordination strain belief.
Israel’s Channel 12 news reported on Monday that, according to Israeli officials, Netanyahu did inform Trump before giving the order to launch missiles at Qatar. “Israel would not have attacked if it believed Trump was opposed,” the officials said.
