Qatar vows retaliation against Israel after strike on Hamas leaders

Qatar’s prime minister vowed to retaliate against Israel over its airstrike on Hamas’ political leaders in Doha, calling it a “decisive moment” in the Middle East.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani slammed Tuesday’s strike on the Qatari capital as “state terrorism” sanctioned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Doha claiming such an attack needed a strong response from the entire region.

“The State of Qatar is committed to act in a decisive way with anything that would target its territories and will reserve the right to retaliate and will take all the needed measures to retaliate,” al-Thani told reporters Tuesday night, per Al Jazeera translators.

“I think that we have reached a decisive moment. There should be retaliation from the whole region in the face of those barbaric actions,” he added.

Israel escalated the war against Hamas on Tuesday after launching an airstrike aimed at killing Hamas’ political leadership, who had convened in Doha to discuss the current cease-fire deal with Qatari mediators.

Hamas has said the attack killed five members, but claimed none of its leaders were assassinated, including head negotiator and top Gaza official Khalil al-Hayya.

A Qatari security officer who was guarding the offices where Hamas officials gathered was also killed in the blast, Doha said. 

Al-Thani claimed the attack on Doha has undermined Qatar’s role as one of the key mediators trying to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, accusing Netanyahu of being the key source of instability in the Middle East.

“It reflects the barbarism of this person that is leading the region, unfortunately, to a point where we cannot address any situation, and we cannot repair anything, and we cannot work within the frameworks of international laws,” the prime minister said.

“He just violates all those international laws,” he added.  

The situation has caused headaches for President Trump, who apologized to al-Thani for the attack and vowed to make sure such a thing would never happen again.

Qatar serves as a key US ally in the Middle East, with Doha housing America’s largest military air base in the region.

Despite Israeli leadership’s assurance that the attack on Doha would progress the peace talks with Hamas to free the remaining hostages in Gaza, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said bombing Qatar ” does not advance Israel or America’s goals.”

The White House, however, noted that Israel has a right to target Hamas’ leadership.