US President Donald Trump on Sunday described Qatar as a “great ally” and said that Israel should “be careful” following the Israeli strike that targeted Hamas leaders in Doha.
Asked by a reporter what his message is to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the strike in Qatar, Trump responded, “They have to be very, very careful. They have to do something about Hamas, but Qatar has been a great ally to the United States. A lot of people don’t know that.”
He added, “I told the Emir, who I think is a wonderful person, actually, I said, ‘You need better public relations because you don’t really get the public relations.’”
“People talk of [Qatar] so badly, and they shouldn’t be. Qatar has been a very great ally. So Israel and everybody else, we have to be careful. When we attack people, we have to be careful,” said Trump.
Trump told reporters on the day of the strike that he was “not thrilled” by it, but has also stressed the importance of continuing the efforts to bring back the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Netanyahu implied on Saturday evening that Israel’s attempt to eliminate Hamas leaders in Qatar had failed.
In an English-language post on X, Netanyahu wrote that these leaders “blocked all ceasefire attempts,” noting that “getting rid of them” would eliminate the “main obstacle” to ending the war.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” Netanyahu wrote in his post, adding, “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war. “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
On Friday evening, Hamas officially announced that Khalil al-Hayya, one of its leaders who was targeted in the Doha strike, was not eliminated in the strike.
A statement from the terrorist organization, quoted by Channel 13 News, said that al-Hayya “carried out the funeral prayer for his martyred son who was killed in the strike and for those killed in the assassination attempt, under special security arrangements.”
Hamas did not release any photos or other documentation to substantiate the claim.