A furious Qatar has accused Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a “narcissistic saboteur-in-chief” determined to wreck the chances of peace in the Middle East, after Israel bombed the Qatari capital on Tuesday.
In blistering comments made to The Independent, Dr Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson and adviser to the country’s prime minister, said Israel had attacked central Doha while Hamas negotiators were discussing a US-proposed truce deal, putting a “target on the back” of any country attempting to mediate 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.
Mr Netanyahu said the targets were 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 Independent that the country is “dealing with this as a direct attack on Qatar”, as Israel failed to issue a warning to Doha beforehand or apparently to consult its own closest ally, the US, despite the fact that the largest American military base in the Middle East is located close to 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 Mr Netanyahu has “actively sabotaged talks at every turning point”.
“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 over the course of the 23-month bloody war. At the request of Israel and the US, it has played host to critical talks between negotiating teams from both sides.
Dr Ansari said that the attack on a building in the heart of Doha, where a senior Hamas delegation was discussing the latest Gaza ceasefire deal penned by the Trump administration, therefore underscored Mr 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.
“[Mr Netanyahu] does not have any concern for the life of the hostages, any concern for the international standing of Israel [among] the international community, or 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 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, Mr al-Hayya’s office chief, and three other individuals whose identities are unknown.
Dr Ansari said that investigations are ongoing but preliminary results show that Israeli fighter jets evaded Qatar’s sophisticated defence systems and radars during the raid.
Sir Keir Starmer joined world leaders in condemning 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 said it posed a threat to regional stability.
The Saudi crown prince and the 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 about the repercussions of the attack for Gaza, where Mr Netanyahu is pushing ahead with a deeply controversial plan to widen his offensive and take over Gaza City.
The renewed military operation has elicited worldwide criticism and even pushback from within Israel, where many are concerned that Mr Netanyahu, who is also standing trial on corruption 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 against Gaza and a seige of the territory in the wake of Hamas militants’ bloody attacks on 7 October 2023, during which more than 1,000 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. Israel’s bombardment has already killed 64,000 people, according to Palestinian estimates: the largest professional organisation of scholars studying genocide, the IAGS, said last 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 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 explained that this could no longer happen.
“ There is nothing valid in talks post the Israeli side deciding to bomb the mediator and the negotiating team,” an official 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, in which they said they were following events with “deep concern and heavy anxiety” and spoke of their “grave fear” about the “price that the hostages may pay”.
Dr Ansari said that allowing Israel’s bombing of Doha to go unpunished at this moment would affect “anybody who wants to play the role of peace facilitator”, and warned that it could send a dangerous message to countries such as Russia that they too could 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 [Mr 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.”
