Trump prompts Netanyahu to apologize to Qatar for bombing its capital
The Israeli prime minister expressed regret about the strikes and, specifically, “that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty.”
President Donald Trump facilitated a phone call from the Oval Office today in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to his Qatari counterpart for the missile strikes earlier this month that targeted Hamas officials while they were engaged in peace talks in Doha.
Netanyahu expressed regret about the strikes and, specifically, “that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty,” according to a White House readout of the phone call.
Netanyahu, the White House continued, “affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future.”
Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also agreed to a trilateral mechanism with the U.S. to help improve communications and their broader relationship, the White House said.
The call occurred during a meeting in which Trump was working to get Netanyahu’s support for his administration’s 20-point postwar peace plan for Gaza. But smoothing relations between Israel and Qatar, a key interlocutor with Hamas, could be an initial step toward restarting negotiations toward an eventual end to the nearly two-year war
