Israel’s attack on Qatar should be a wake-up call for the Arab world
If any state should have felt safe from an Israeli attack, it would have been Qatar.
It is a small country that poses no real threat to Israel. It is an ally of the United States and hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East.
In May, Qatar pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the US economy.
Qatar has also cultivated a reputation as a peacemaker, mediating in numerous conflicts. Just last month, the Israeli Mossad director was in Doha, hosted by the Qatari government, as part of longstanding ceasefire negotiations over Gaza.
Yet this characterisation may be too simplistic.
The reality is that Qatar should never have felt safe, and nor should any other country in the region.
Israel is not constrained by the rules that govern relations between states. It flouts international law and claims a divine mandate to expand, seeing anyone in its way as an obstacle to be removed.
Israel is not merely a rogue state that disregards the rule of law. It is a state that openly rejects all norms and conventions, whose leaders have long promoted the vision of a “Greater Israel” stretching from the Euphrates in Iraq to the Nile in Egypt.
This is no hidden conspiracy, and no fancy Middle East studies degrees are required for understanding it. All one has to do is casually follow Israeli politics. In August, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to this project on Israeli television. [Continue reading…]
On Tuesday morning, the U.S. military spotted Israeli jets flying east toward the Gulf. The U.S. sought clarification, but by the time Israel provided it missiles were already in the air, three U.S. officials say.
- Their target was a meeting of Hamas leadership in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Behind the scenes: The news stunned the White House and infuriated some of Trump’s top advisers because it came as the U.S. was waiting for Hamas to respond to President Trump’s new proposal for peace in Gaza.
- In fact, the Hamas officials were meeting to discuss that proposal. The White House expected to receive Hamas’ response by the end of the week.
- Qatar became the seventh country Israel has bombed since Oct. 7, 2023.