The White House said in a statement on Monday that during his meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in a trilateral call and expressed “deep regret” about bombing Doha.
The statement came after several Israeli media outlets reported that Netanyahu apologized to al-Thani about the September 9 strikes that targeted senior Hamas officials who were discussing a US ceasefire proposal. The strikes killed lower-level Hamas officials and one Qatari security officer.
The White House statement acknowledged that the Israeli attack came amid ceasefire negotiations. “[Netanyahu] further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty,” it said.
The statement said that Netanyahu told al-Thani that the killing of the Qatari officer was “unintentional” and pledged that Israel “will not conduct such an attack again in the future.”
The White House said that the three leaders agreed to “establish a trilateral mechanism to enhance coordination, improve communication, resolve mutual grievances, and strengthen collective efforts to prevent threats.”
According to Axios, an Israeli apology for the bombing was required for Qatar to continue its role as a mediator in Gaza ceasefire negotiations. President Trump has been claiming that a deal is close, but it’s unclear if he’s putting any real pressure on Netanyahu to end the genocidal war.
Trump had also claimed that he was unaware of Israel’s plans to bomb Doha. But according to Israeli officials, Trump was notified about the plan beforehand and did not oppose the strikes on Qatar, which is a major non-NATO ally of the US and hosts about 10,000 US troops.
