Twenty days after the failed assassination attempt of senior Hamas officials in Doha, the prime minister apologized to the Qataris. During his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, and with Trump’s mediation, Netanyahu apologized in a phone call from the White House to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed al-Thani.
Netanyahu’s apology, made at Trump’s request, was for violating Qatar’s sovereignty. It followed an earlier U.S. statement that Israel had committed not to carry out further operations in Qatar. A Qatari delegation is in Washington after earlier talks at the White House and is expected to coordinate the hostage deal.
Doha has not issued any official statements, though Qatar is demanding, among other things, that Israel pay compensation to the family of a Qatari security officer killed in the strike. Shortly after the phone call, Qatar announced it would return to a mediation role in the ceasefire talks.
On Sept. 9, the IDF carried out an airstrike in Doha, Qatar’s capital, targeting senior Hamas officials. The army and the Shin Bet security service later announced in a joint statement that the air force had “struck the top leadership of the terrorist organization.” Qatar harshly condemned the strike, calling it “a cowardly act and a blatant violation of international law.”
The operation was code-named “Summit of Fire.” The army and Shin Bet stressed that the Hamas leaders targeted had directed the group’s operations for years and were directly responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre and for leading the war against Israel. Hamas denied that the strike succeeded, saying its leadership survived and claiming the attack showed Israel’s intent to block any chance of a deal. Later that month, several senior Hamas officials who survived the strike gave media interviews.
A diplomatic source told Al Jazeera that the call with the Qatari emir was initiated by Trump and included all three sides. According to the source, Netanyahu apologized in the tripartite call for violating Qatar’s sovereignty and for the killing of the security officer in the Doha strike.