The Netanyahu government is thus making it clear in a rather brutal manner that it is bothered when the Americans negotiate with its enemies.
If anyone believed that Israel had already violated all international rules in its fight against Hamas, Tuesday's attack on Qatar convinced them otherwise. Israeli aircraft attacked a residential neighborhood in the capital Doha in order to destroy the political leadership of Hamas. They did not succeed.
The attack went too far
However, Israeli missiles killed the son of political leader Khalil Hayya, his staff, and a Qatari officer. The attack went so far that it even drew criticism from the White House, which otherwise expresses unconditional support for all Israeli actions. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council in New York addressed the matter. The attack is inappropriate both in terms of the location of the aggression and its targets.
This is not the first time that Israel has liquidated its enemies on the territory of other states. Of course, no government is willing to accept such a thing without protest. States do not allow another state to liquidate its opponents on their territory without their knowledge.
Israel has therefore exercised discretion in these operations. The killings were carried out secretly under the direction of the Mossad. Israel did not officially acknowledge them, and when it deemed it desirable, it praised itself retrospectively for the successful operation through controlled indiscretions to the media.
Israel has also violated its own principle
With growing self-confidence, Israel has begun in recent years to openly kill its enemies abroad. Either it proudly acknowledges the liquidation operations of its secret service agents, such as the bomb attacks on members of the Lebanese Hezbollah, or it bombs its targets directly: in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran.
Until now, however, it has reserved its open aggression for states that were hostile to it, with which it had no relations and whose sovereignty it did not recognize. Although it has also undermined the sovereignty of the states with which it cooperates through its operations, it has otherwise spared their public reputation through traditional intelligence discretion.
With Tuesday's attack in Doha, it has violated this principle. Qatar cannot be compared to Syria, Lebanon, or Iran. It is a protectorate of the US, host to the largest American military base in the region and mediator of American and Israeli contacts with Hamas. Qatar allowed Hamas to establish a political headquarters in Doha years ago because the Americans were interested in communicating with the organization, with which they did not want to have direct contact.
An incident that is “not in the interest of the US”
Steve Witkoff and other Trump negotiators now travel regularly to Qatar to negotiate with Hamas on prisoner exchanges and a ceasefire with Israel. Israel has violated the sovereignty of a state whose diplomacy is widely recognized and valued, and in the most brutal way possible: through a military attack that also claimed the life of a Qatari officer.
That is why Algeria and Pakistan have requested a special session of the UN Security Council. But Israel has nothing to fear from this side except moral condemnation, as it is protected from any real sanctions by the US veto.
The Americans described the attack as an “unfortunate incident” that was “not in the interests of the US,” but they knew about it in advance and could have prevented it if they had wanted to: through diplomatic pressure or through the air defense that protects their base.
Israel liquidates political negotiators
Perhaps something will happen in Europe. Although European sanctions are blocked in Brussels, as always, by countries such as Germany, Hungary, and Czechia, sanctions can also be imposed nationally. It is also to be expected that other countries in Europe will join in recognizing the Palestinian state in response to Israeli aggression.
Israel has drawn criticism not only for the location but also for the target of its attack. It was not aimed at military representatives of Hamas, but at political negotiators who were to meet on the day of the attacks to discuss the American proposal, or rather the ultimatum. Washington demanded the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the guarantee of peace negotiations.
There is no doubt that every member of Hamas is a legitimate target for Israeli attacks. Hamas itself attacks Israel as best it can. Most recently, it praised Palestinian terrorists who shot six people in Jerusalem on Monday, even though it did not claim responsibility for the attack.
In international politics, however, it is also true that when I negotiate with someone, I can shoot at their soldiers, but not at the negotiators. Because then negotiation becomes impossible. But this is where the US and Israel differ. It is the Americans who are negotiating, not the Israelis, who have been saying since October 2023 that they will never negotiate with Hamas. They are as uninterested in a ceasefire with Hamas as the Russians are in a ceasefire with Ukraine.
The US is losing its reputation as an honest broker
But it is one thing not to negotiate and quite another to liquidate the negotiators who were approached by their most important partner and protector. Israel has now repeated the Iranian scenario from June. At that time, it also attacked just as Iranian negotiators were about to respond to the American proposal. The Netanyahu government is thus making it quite brutally clear that it does not approve of the Americans negotiating with its enemies.
If the Americans tolerate this from Israel, they will lose respect. Washington is not mistaken in saying that the attack harms American interests. They could lose Qatar – a country that is their base in the region and also has the third-largest gas reserves in the world.
Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has so far treated Trump with the utmost courtesy. During his visit to the Gulf region in the spring, he gave him a luxury plane worth half a billion dollars and promised investments in the US worth over a billion dollars. Trump reciprocated by allowing Israel to destroy and kill in Doha. Qatar is suspending mediation between the US and Hamas for the time being. Let's see what it does next.
But alongside Qatar, the Americans are also losing their reputation as honest mediators with whom it makes sense to negotiate. Will they simply let Israel get away with it again?