Tel Aviv, (UNI) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday apologized to his Qatari counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, for the September 9 Israeli air strike in Doha, which targeted a meeting of the Hamas terror group’s political leadership.
Though the strike failed to kill the key Hamas leaders it was targeting, it did kill several lower-level members in the terror group, along with one Qatari guard.
Following the attack, Qatar — which had until then played a key role in negotiations between Israel and Hamas amid the ongoing war in Gaza — refused to serve as a mediator.
The apology took place in a phone call made from the Oval Office that US President Donald Trump organized and was present for, during a meeting between him and Netanyahu.
PM Netanyahu also admitted that Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not repeat such an attack, the White House statement added.
Netanyahu’s apology was a prerequisite for Doha’s continued involvement in hostage and ceasefire negotiations, Israeli public broadcaster KAN News reported.
The Qatari government welcomed these assurances. Shortly after the phone call, the White House released its plan for ending the war. Trump, at a press conference, then said Israel and the Arab world had accepted it.
During the call, Netanyahu “expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,” an official White House readout said.
The Israeli premier “further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future,” it continued.
During the call, the Qatari premier “welcomed these assurances, emphasizing Qatar’s readiness to continue contributing meaningfully to regional security and stability,” the US readout said, noting that Netanyahu “expressed commitment to the same.”
A Qatari statement, issued shortly thereafter, confirmed the call and said that Thani expressed Qatar’s refusal to tolerate violations of its sovereignty, while conveying Doha’s readiness to continue its mediation efforts to end the war in the Gaza Strip under the framework of the US president’s initiative.
Netanyahu’s concession marked an about-turn from previous, repeated insistence by him that Tel Aviv was within its rights to strike the Hamas leaders, including in the Qatari capital.
