Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has said that Israel’s airstrikes on Doha that targeted Hamas officials “killed any hope” for the release of Israeli captives in Gaza.
Throughout Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, al-Thani has served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas and said that he had just met with family members of an Israeli who is still being held in Gaza. “I was meeting one of the hostage’s families the morning of the attack,” al-Thani said on Wednesday,” according to NBC News.
“They are counting on this mediation, they have no other hope for that. I think that what Netanyahu has done yesterday, he just killed any hope for those hostages,” al-Thani added.
On Thursday, al-Thani addressed an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and made similar comments. “Extremists that rule Israel today do not care about the hostages — otherwise, how do we justify the timing of this attack?” he said.
The Israeli airstrikes targeted Doha after the US had passed a ceasefire proposal to Hamas. According to Hamas officials, they were gathered to discuss the proposal when the Israeli missiles hit.
Despite the attack, al-Thani vowed that Qatar would “continue our humanitarian and diplomatic role without any hesitation in order to stop the bloodshed.”
The 15-member Security Council released a statement condemning the Israeli attack, which means it had the backing of the US. “The members of the Security Council expressed their condemnation of the recent strikes in Doha, the territory of a key mediator, on 9 September. They expressed deep regret at the loss of civilian life,” the Council said.
However, the US envoy at the meeting defended Israel from charges that it didn’t want a ceasefire. “It is inappropriate for any member to use this to question Israel’s commitment to bringing their hostages home,” said acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea.
President Trump has claimed that he was “very unhappy” about the Israeli attack on Qatar, but Israeli media reports said the US gave the green light for the attack. There’s also been no sign that the strikes will impact US military support for Israel.
