{"id":421620,"date":"2025-09-13T17:26:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/421620\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T17:26:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:26:18","slug":"netanyahus-gamble-on-striking-qatar-may-have-failed-but-hes-not-backing-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/421620\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu’s gamble on striking Qatar may have failed, but he’s not backing down"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered this week\u2019s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, he took a major gamble in his campaign to pound the terror group into submission.<\/p>\n

With signs growing that the mission failed, that gamble appears to have backfired.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu had hoped to kill Hamas\u2019 senior exiled leaders to get closer to his vision of \u201ctotal victory\u201d against the terror group that carried out the brutal massacre of 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023, and pressure it into surrendering after nearly two years of war in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

Instead, Hamas claims its leaders survived, and Netanyahu\u2019s global standing \u2014 already badly damaged by the scenes of destruction and humanitarian disaster in Gaza, as Israel tries to destroy Hamas and get back 48 hostages held there \u2014 took another hit.<\/p>\n

The airstrike on Tuesday has enraged Qatar, an influential US ally that has been a key mediator throughout the war, and drawn heavy criticism across the Arab world. It also has strained relations with the White House and thrown hopes of reaching a ceasefire into disarray, potentially endangering the 20 hostages still believed to be alive.<\/p>\n

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But while the strike marks a setback for Netanyahu, he shows no sign of backing down or halting the war. And with his hard-line coalition still firmly behind him, Netanyahu faces no immediate threat to his rule.<\/p>\n

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Damage is seen after an Israeli strike targeted a compound that hosted Hamas\u2019 political leadership in Doha, Qatar on September 10, 2025 (AFP)<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s hope for an \u2018image of victory\u2019 for his government<\/p>\n

Five low-level Hamas members and a Qatari security guard were killed in the strike.<\/p>\n

But Hamas has said the intended target, senior exiled leaders meeting to discuss a new US ceasefire proposal, all survived. The terror group, however, has not released any photos of the leaders, and Qatar has not commented on their conditions.<\/p>\n

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A composite image of five members of Hamas\u2019s leadership targeted by Israel in Qatar on September 9, 2025, L-R: Zaher Jabarin, Khaled Mashaal, Khalil al-Hayya, Muhammad Ismail Darwish, Nizar Awadallah. (Mahmud Hams\/Louai Beshara\/KHAMENEI.IR\/AFP)<\/p>\n

If the airstrike had killed the top leadership, the attack could have provided Netanyahu an opportunity to declare Hamas\u2019 destruction, said Harel Chorev, an expert on Arab affairs at Tel Aviv University.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all very symbolic and it\u2019s definitely part of the thing which allows Netanyahu at a certain point to say \u2018We won, we killed them all,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s fierce 23-month offensive in Gaza has wiped out all of Hamas\u2019 top leadership inside the territory. But Netanyahu has set out to eradicate the terror group as part of his goal of \u201ctotal victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is now looking increasingly unlikely, making it even harder for Netanyahu to push a ceasefire through his hard-line coalition.<\/p>\n

Far-right members of Israel\u2019s governing coalition have cornered Netanyahu, threatening to topple his government unless Israel pushes ahead with an expanded operation in Gaza City, despite serious misgivings by many in the military leadership and widespread opposition among Israel\u2019s public.<\/p>\n

A successful operation in Qatar could have allowed Netanyahu to placate the hard-liners, even though it would have eliminated the very officials responsible for negotiating a possible ceasefire.<\/p>\n

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Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a building in Gaza City, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Yousef Al Zanoun)<\/p>\n

Burning the channel with Qatar<\/p>\n

Israel could target Hamas leaders in Doha from the start of the war, but did not want to antagonize the Qataris while negotiations took place, Chorev said.<\/p>\n

Qatar has helped negotiate two previous ceasefires that have released 148 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners. Israel\u2019s military has rescued just eight hostages alive and retrieved the bodies of 51 hostages.<\/p>\n

While Israel has complained that Qatar was not putting pressure on Hamas, it had continued to leave that channel open \u2014 until Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael, by the attack, notified the whole world that it gave up on the negotiations,\u201d Chorev said. \u201cThey\u2019ve decided to burn the channel with Qatar.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A massive banner calling for the US president to push a hostage deal in Gaza, unfurled at Hostage\u2019s Square in Tel Aviv on September 6, 2025. (OM\/Hostages Families Forum)<\/p>\n

Asked if ceasefire talks would continue, Qatar\u2019s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that after the strike, \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything valid\u201d in the current talks. But he did not elaborate and stopped short of saying Qatar would end its mediation efforts.<\/p>\n

How Netanyahu hopes to win the release of the remaining hostages remains unclear.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Thani accused Israel of abandoning the hostages.<\/p>\n

\u201cExtremists that rule Israel today do not care about the hostages \u2014 otherwise, how do we justify the timing of this attack?\u201d he told the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, he said his country was ready to resume its mediation without giving any indication of next steps. On Friday, he met in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was scheduled to visit Israel this weekend in a sign of how the Trump administration is trying to balance relations between key Middle East allies.<\/p>\n

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From L-R: Qatar\u2019s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, US Vice President JD Vance, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meet in Washington, DC, September 13, 2025. (Qatar\u2019s Foreign Ministry\/X)<\/p>\n

Straining ties with the US<\/p>\n

Netanyahu, who has received ironclad support from the US since President Donald Trump returned to office, appears to have strained ties with his most important ally.<\/p>\n

Trump said he was \u201cvery unhappy\u201d about the airstrike and assured the Qataris such an attack would not happen again.<\/p>\n

Trump, however, has not said whether he would take any punitive action against Israel or indicated that he will pressure Netanyahu to halt the war.<\/p>\n

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US President Donald Trump (L) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) at the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 7, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Netanyahu, in the meantime, remains undeterred and has threatened additional action if Qatar continues to host the Hamas leadership.<\/p>\n

The message to Hamas is clear, he said Thursday: \u201cThere is no place where we cannot reach you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little impact on the war in Gaza<\/p>\n

Israel is pressing ahead with its expanded offensive aimed at conquering Gaza City. The military has urged a full evacuation of the area holding around 1 million people ahead of an expected invasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu\u2019s government is adamant to go on with the military operation in Gaza,\u201d said Gayil Talshir, a political scientist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

IDF troops in the 36th Division operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image published on September 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n

Israel has brushed off calls to halt the war from the United Nations, the European Union, and a growing number of major Western countries that plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN Security Council later this month, she said.<\/p>\n

The only one who might be able to change this trajectory is Trump, she added, by telling Israel \u201cenough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s political future unthreatened<\/p>\n

If Hamas\u2019 leaders survive, and the negotiations collapse, Netanyahu will further alienate the over two-thirds of the Israeli public who want an end to the war and a deal to bring home the hostages.<\/p>\n

But that opposition has been in place for months, with little influence on Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu\u2019s future in the near term doesn\u2019t depend on the Israeli public,\u201d said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on September 7, 2025. (GPO\/screenshot)<\/p>\n

Instead, his political survival depends on his governing coalition, many of whom have expressed wholehearted support for the assassination attempt.<\/p>\n

This has sparked panic and more suffering for the families of the hostages still held in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Einav Zangauker, whose son, Matan<\/a>, is among the captives, said this week she was \u201cshaking with fear\u201d after hearing about Israel\u2019s attack in Doha.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy does the prime minister insist on blowing up every chance for a deal?\u201d she asked, on the verge of tears. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered this week\u2019s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, he took a major…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-421620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115198164478812165","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}