Qatar’s prime minister excoriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an exclusive interview with NCS on Wednesday, calling Israel’s attempted assassination of Hamas leaders in Doha “barbaric.”
“We were thinking that we are dealing with civilized people,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told NCS’s Becky Anderson. “That’s the way we are dealing with others. And the action that (Netanyahu) took – I cannot describe it, but it’s a barbaric action.”
Al-Thani added that he believes Israel’s strike on Doha on Tuesday “killed any hope” for the hostages remaining in Gaza.
“I was meeting one of the hostage’s families the morning of the attack,” Al-Thani mentioned. “They are counting on this (ceasefire) mediation, they have no other hope for that.”
“I think that what Netanyahu has done yesterday, he just killed any hope for those hostages,” the prime minister mentioned.
The assault in Doha was nothing lower than “state terror,” Al-Thani instructed NCS. The prime minister had used the same term on Tuesday when he took the rostrum at a information convention and laid into Israel for its actions.
During that information convention, Al-Thani was visibly indignant. He expressed the identical outrage Wednesday, some thirty-six hours after the strike.
“I have no words to express how enraged we are from such an action. … This is state terror,” Al-Thani instructed NCS. “We are betrayed.”
Al-Thani notably didn’t reveal the destiny of Hamas’ chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya, following Israel’s assault focusing on the group’s management in Doha on Tuesday.
When requested by NCS on the whereabouts of the chief negotiator, Al-Thani mentioned that “until now … there is no official declaration.”
Hamas had initially mentioned 5 of its members have been killed within the strike, however it failed to assassinate the negotiating delegation.
Al-Thani mentioned a 22-year-old Qatari safety officer was killed within the assault.
“We are trying to identify if there is any other one missing. … There are Qataris who are in a very dangerous situation,” he added.
Al-Thani mentioned he couldn’t predict what Hamas’ response to the newest US rules for a ceasefire would have been had Israel not struck Doha, however mentioned that he believed that Israel and Hamas “are going to run out of chances” to safe a ceasefire.
Shortly after the strike, Al-Thani had instructed reporters that Qatar wouldn’t be deterred in its mediation efforts. However, the prime minister mentioned Wednesday that Netanyahu has “undermined any chance of stability, any chance of peace” by focusing on Hamas management within the Qatari capital.
“I’ve been rethinking, even about the entire process for the last few weeks, that Netanyahu was just wasting our time,” Al-Thani mentioned.
“He wasn’t serious about anything,” he added, as he dismissed latest talks as “meaningless.”
Al-Thani added the Qataris are “reassessing everything” round their involvement in any future ceasefire talks, and added they’re in a “very detailed conversation” with the United States authorities on the best way to proceed.
Qatar, which hosts the most important US army base within the Middle East, is a significant American ally. US President Donald Trump was knowledgeable of the strike solely shortly earlier than it started — and never by Israel itself, however by Chairman of the Joint Staff General Dan Caine, in response to a US official.
Trump instantly instructed White House particular envoy Steve Witkoff to temporary Qatar, in response to one other US official. Witkoff has a longstanding relationship with the Qataris.
While Trump stopped in need of condemning the assault, on Tuesday his spokesperson mentioned that the president was involved. Al-Thani instructed NCS on Wednesday that the United States has expressed their help for Qatar “on many occasions.”
“I’m following up with all the US officials in order to see what kind of actions can be taken as we speak,” Al-Thani added.
This weekend, the US proposed a new ceasefire framework. Trump mentioned Israel had agreed to its phrases and that it was “time for Hamas to accept as well.”
Qatar’s prime minister pressed Hamas to “respond positively” to this proposal in a gathering in Doha, in response to an official aware of that dialogue.
Hamas was then resulting from reply Tuesday night to the proposal, a diplomat briefed on the talks instructed NCS, earlier than Israel’s strike on Doha.
Qatar hopes that there will likely be a “collective response” to Israel’s strike on Hamas officers in Doha, Al-Thani mentioned.
“There is a response that will happen from the region. This response is currently under consultation and discussion with other partners in the region,” Al-Thani mentioned.
Al-Thani said that an Arab-Islamic summit will likely be held in Doha within the coming days, the place the contributors will resolve on a plan of action.
However, Al-Thani mentioned that Qatar is not going to ask different regional companions to reply in a specific method.
“There is a collective response that should happen from the region,” Al-Thani mentioned, “We are hoping for something meaningful that deters Israel from continuing this bullying.”