In blistering comments Dr Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson and advisor to the prime minister, said Israel attacked central Doha while Hamas negotiators were discussing a US-proposed truce deal, putting a “target on the back” of any country trying to mediating peace.
Israel launched an unprecedented air raid on Doha on Tuesday, killing at least six people, including a member of Qatar’s internal security forces and five Hamas figures.
Netanyahu said the target was the senior Hamas leadership in exile, who, according to the Qataris, were in central Doha discussing details of a US-penned plan for Gaza.
Dr Ansari told The UK Independent they were “dealing with this as a direct attack on Qatar”, as Israel failed to warn Doha or apparently consult Israel’s closest ally, the US, beforehand, despite the fact the US’s largest Middle East military base is located near the Qatari capital.
“ The treacherous behaviour of prime minister Netanyahu is not something new to us… but it is a red line that has been crossed that has never been crossed before,” said Dr Ansari, adding that the death toll from the attack was still unknown, as Qatari forces were digging through the rubble.
“This message is very clear to everybody around the world, but especially to our region here, that peace with Israel is not possible under prime minister Netanyahu. He does not want peace. He does not work towards peace. He is actually the saboteur-in-chief.”
Qatar does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel but has taken a leading role in mediating multiple ceasefire deals between Israel and Hamas in the 23-month bloody war. At the request of Israel and the US it has played host to critical talks and negotiating teams from both sides.
Dr al-Ansari said therefore the attack on a building in the heart of Doha where a senior Hamas delegation were discussing the latest Gaza ceasefire deal penned by the Trump administration underscored Netanyahu’s intent.
“This is not an act of a partner who believes in their partnership with the US. This is a unilateral action by a madman. This is somebody who is unhinged.
“[Netanyahu] does not have any concern for the life of the hostages, any concern for the international standing of Israel and the international community, and any concern for what Israel stands for as a state, as a member of the United Nations.
“ It has reached a point where he doesn’t even have respect for the his partners in the US administration.”
He added grimly, “ the only way Netanyahu wants to reshape the region is in his own image, in his narcissistic, megalomaniacal image.”
Israel has faced worldwide condemnation for its shock decision to bomb Qatar, a state that has already been caught in the crossfire between Israel, the US and Iran, which made the US base in Qatar the target of its retaliatory strikes.
The Israeli military has yet to confirm who was killed in Tuesday’s barrage. But Hamas said that none of the senior leaders were harmed, naming the dead as Hammam, the son of its top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, al-Hayya’s office chief, and three other individuals who are unknowns.
Dr Ansari said that investigations are ongoing but preliminary results show that Israeli fighter jets evaded Qatar’s sophisticated defence systems and radars in the raid.
Keir Starmer joined world leaders in slamming the attack as a serious violation of Qatar’s sovereignty that risked “further escalation across the region.”
Gulf leaders, including Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, described the strike as a “criminal act and a flagrant violation of international law” and a threat to regional stability.
The Saudi Crown prince and Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan were set to visit Doha to discuss a response. The Qatari government has instructed a team of legal experts to study all legal and diplomatic avenues they could take to hold Israel accountable, including in the UN Security Council, where a session will be held on the attack.
But there is also growing alarm over the repercussions of the attack on Gaza, where Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing ahead with a deeply controversial plan to widen his offensive and take over Gaza City.
The renewed military operation has faced worldwide criticism and even pushback from within Israel where many concerned that Netanyahu, who is also standing trial on corruptions charges, is bowing to mounting pressure from extreme-right members of his coalition to continue the war on Gaza, in order to stay in power.
Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign and siege on Gaza in the wake of Hamas militants’ bloody 7 October 2023 attacks, during which over 1000 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostages. Israel’s bombardment has already killed 64,000 people, according to Palestinian estimates: the largest professional organisation of scholars studying genocide said this week that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military pushed deeper into Gaza City where they also issued more evacuation orders to the million or so people believed to be there, as Palestinian civilians described running for their lives to the overcrowded south of the Strip.
Qatari officials told The Independent that they had hoped a deal could be struck soon, as on Hamas’s side they were close to finalising the wording of a ceasefire deal to present to the Trump administration — but that could no longer happen.
“There is nothing valid in talks post the Israeli side deciding to bomb the mediator and the negotiating team,” he added bluntly.
This has worried the families of the remaining 50 hostages and captives still believed to be in Gaza, who have taken to the streets almost every day calling for a ceasefire.
They released a statement in the wake of Israel’s bombing of Doha saying they were following it with “deep concern and heavy anxiety” and had a “grave fear” for the “price that the hostages may pay.”
Dr Ansari said Israel bombing Doha with impunity at this moment impacts “anybody who wants to play the role of peace facilitator” and warned it could send a dangerous message to countries like Russia, that they too can bomb foreign states.
“It was a direct political decision to put Qatar in the target zone, and put our lives at risk just because of [Netanyahu’s] own narcissistic ideas,” he said .
“ Everybody in the region right now understands that there is a target on everybody’s back if Netanyahu sees it is fitting to his political agenda. “