Striking Doha: Israeli tail wagging the American dog

On September 9 Israel carried out a strike on a residential building in Qatar in which members of the Hamas’s negotiating team, and other group members, were present. The Jewish state’s target was Khalil Al-Hayya, currently a member of Hamas’s five-member ruling council. He also serves as the organisation’s chief negotiator for a ceasefire in Gaza. This is not the first time Israel has targeted a very senior Hamas leader in a West Asian country. In July last year Israel killed Ismail Hanniyeh, the group’s top leader and head of its political bureau, in Tehran in a covert operation. Hanniyeh was visiting the Iranian capital for the inauguration of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Hanniyeh’s successor Yahya Sinwar was killed in a military operation in Gaza in October 2024. Since then, the group has been led by the ruling council.

Khalil Al-Hayya was not killed but his son and an aide along with some other Hamas members were. A Qatari corporal also died. It was one thing for Israel to kill Hanniyeh in Tehran in a covert operation and quite another to openly undertake a strike against Hamas in Qatar which is United States’s major non-NATO ally. US’s Udeid Air Base which is vital for its military operations in the region is also located in Qatar. It is because of this distinction that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, after the strike, that Israel alone was responsible for it. By saying so he wanted to signal that the US was not involved.

Israel informed the US military just prior to the attack. It has not been reported, so far, if and when the US’s airbase at Udeid’s radars picked up the presence of Israeli planes carrying out the strike. Of course, the US assets at the Udeid base would not have taken any action against them even if was possible for them to do so. Despite Israel’s killing almost 65000 people of Gaza after the horrific Hamas attack on Israel on September 7, 2023 the US always nuances its occasional mild criticism of Israel. It did so on this occasion too even though the Israeli strike caused it deep embarrassment and has possibly eroded its credibility in the region.

The White House Spokesperson said after the attack: “This morning the Trump administration was notified by the United States military that Israel was attacking Hamas which very unfortunately was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar. Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace does not advance Israel’s or America’s goals. However, eliminating Hamas who have profited of the misery of those living in Gaza is a worthy goal. President Trump directed Special Envoy Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack which he did.

President Trump views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States and feels very badly about the location of this attack. President Trump wants all the hostages in Gaza and the bodies of the dead released and the war to end now. President Trump also spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu after the attack. The Prime Minister told President Trump that he wants to make peace and quickly. President Trump believes that this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace. The President also spoke the Emir and Prime Minister of Qatar and thanked them for their support and friendship to our country. He assured them that such a thing would not happen again on their soil”.

This writer has deliberately quoted Trump’s full statement for it illustrates the Israeli tail’s capacity to wag the American dog. Apart from Trump’s comment on Hamas, whose action of September 2023 can only be condemned in the strongest terms by right thinking people, what is eye-catching is that Israel’s violation of Qatar’s sovereignty has been termed as an “unfortunate incident”. It has to be borne in mind—as Trump’s statement clearly mentions---that the Hamas presence in Qatar was in connection with the mediatory efforts that are ongoing for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire. And, the US is involved in these ceasefire efforts. Hence, a strike, in such a situation, to attempt to take out the group’s chief negotiator is against basic negotiating norms as well. It was therefore incomprehensible that Israel’s envoy to the United States said that if it had not got the Hamas leader this time it would do so on another occasion. For a diplomat to overlook the context of Khalil Al Hayya’s presence in Qatar is unpardonable.

Unlike the equivocation of the United States, other major powers have outrightly criticized the Israeli action as an unacceptable violation of Qatar’s sovereignty. Of course, there is a great deal of hypocrisy in all this because China which is itself no respecter of another country’s territorial integrity when it suits its interests has also condemned the Israeli action. However, in China’s case it has not launched an open military action as Israel did. It uses salami slicing tactics.

India has interests in Qatar and Israel. After a very mild neither ‘here nor there’ Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement Prime Minister Modi spoke to Qatar’s Emir. The MEA readout stated inter alia “PM expressed deep concern over the attacks in Doha and condemned the violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar. PM appreciated the role being played by Qatar in promoting regional peace and stability, including its mediation efforts in Gaza to achieve ceasefire and release of all hostages”. It’s good that Modi put this sentiment on record.