Qatar’s foreign ministry has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements “shameful,” accusing him of trying to justify Israel’s missile strike on Doha.
Qatar has strongly criticized Benjamin Netanyahu for what it describes as a “reckless” analogy, comparing Israel’s missile attack on Doha to the U.S. response following the 9/11 attacks.
Netanyahu, speaking in English ahead of the 9/11 anniversary, invoked the U.S. pursuit of al Qaeda as justification for the Doha strike. He asserted that governments “cannot harbor terrorists,” and stated, “Yesterday, we acted along those lines. We went after the terrorist masterminds who committed the October 7th massacre.”
The Qatari foreign ministry denounced Netanyahu’s comments as a “shameful attempt” to defend Tuesday’s missile strike, which resulted in the deaths of several Hamas members and a Qatari security officer, caused widespread panic, and sent smoke plumes over the capital.
Since the start of the Gaza conflict, Qatar has been a key mediator between Hamas and Israel.
The ministry stated that “Netanyahu is fully aware that the hosting of the Hamas office took place within the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel.”
Qatar further accused Netanyahu of making a “false comparison” and offering a “miserable justification” for Israel’s “treacherous practices.” It argued that, unlike the situation with Hamas, there had been “no international mediation involving an al-Qaeda negotiating delegation” with which Washington could engage “to bring peace to the region.”
Russia has also condemned the Israeli strike on Doha, labeling it a violation of international law and the UN Charter and asserting that it undermines efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Thursday that the attack demonstrated Israel’s “unwillingness to end the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and highlighted “particular cynicism” given Qatar’s crucial mediating role.