Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly issued an apology to Qatar for a devastating Israeli airstrike in Doha earlier this month that reportedly killed six, including Hamas members and a Qatari security official.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly apologised to Qatar for a devastating Israeli strike in Doha earlier this month, which is said to have resulted in six fatalities, including Hamas members and a Qatari security official.
The apology was delivered during a phone call from the White House on Monday to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, according to Reuters.
This conversation took place while Netanyahu was in Washington meeting with US President Donald Trump. The news comes as Trump’s Gaza peace plan is being mapped out, with Netanyahu pledging his support. “As a first step, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,” the White House announced in a statement.
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“He 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.”, reports the Express.
It remains unclear whether the US president put pressure on the Israeli leader to issue an apology, as reported by the Express US.
Netanyahu’s apology marks a dramatic shift from the Israeli leader, who earlier this month labelled Qatar as being “tied to Hamas” and declared the attack was “entirely justified.
“If Qatar wanted, it could easily apply much harder pressure, which would help us free all of our hostages in the first months of the war,” he told The Times of Israel.
“It [Qatar] is tied to Hamas. It strengthens Hamas. It hosts Hamas. It funds Hamas. It has much stronger levers, and it chose not to do that.”
Qatar slammed the attack as a “flagrant violation of all international laws and norms.”
The US verified that Israel had given advance warning of the strike.
Hamas revealed that whilst its top commanders escaped the attack, five junior operatives were eliminated.
Trump and Netanyahu are meeting amid mounting international pressure to bring the nearly two-year Gaza war to a close.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu remains resolute in his determination to press on with the campaign until Hamas is completely destroyed.
According to anonymous Arab sources quoted by The Associated Press, Trump’s blueprint for ending the Gaza war involves an instant ceasefire, the freeing of all captives within 48 hours, and a phased pull-out of Israeli troops from Palestinian land.
Hamas triggered the ongoing war by slaughtering more than 1,200 Israelis in a surprise assault, and is thought to be detaining 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
The Tehran-backed terror organisation has insisted that Israel must agree to terminate the war and pull out of Gaza as part of any truce deal.
The Health Ministry in Gaza, which operates under Hamas control and makes no distinction between civilians and combatants in its figures, claims that Israel’s military operation has led to the deaths of more than 66,000 Palestinians.
Multiple Arab states and UN specialists have branded Israel’s actions as genocide. The world’s top authority on hunger crises has warned that Israel’s blockade and ongoing offensive have pushed Gaza City into famine.
Over 300,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks following Israel’s orders for residents to move south, but around 700,000 are believed to still be there.
Just last week, Israel’s Western allies, including Britain, France, Canada, and Australia, recognised Palestinian statehood.