The United States is unhappy with Israel's strike on Qatar. What the media is writing
Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar has caused serious disagreements in its relations with the United States. The head of the White House, Donald Trump, publicly criticized Tel Aviv not only for the attack on its important ally in the Persian Gulf, but also for refusing to notify about it. The incident led to the fall of the international authority of the White House, according to the American press. What the world's media write is in the Izvestia digest.
Associated Press: Israel strikes Hamas leaders in Qatar
The Israeli strike targeting top Hamas leaders as they gathered in Qatar marked a major escalation and could cast doubt on negotiations aimed at ending the war in the Gaza Strip and returning Israeli hostages. The White House said that Israel informed the US before the strike, and the US, in turn, warned Qatar. Hamas said after the strike that its top leaders had survived, while acknowledging the deaths of two low-ranking members and three bodyguards.
Associated Press
Israel has threatened to attack Hamas leaders wherever they are, but has so far avoided Qatar, probably because of the Gulf country's close ties to the United States and its mediation role. Since its creation in the 1980s, Hamas has experienced the assassination of several senior leaders, but has never faced an attack on the scale of Israel's response to the October 7 attack.
Hamas has a deep distrust of Tel Aviv and Washington after Israel withdrew from the ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump in March. The blow to Doha further complicates the negotiations. There is still an armed wing of Hamas in Gaza, led by Ezzedin al-Haddad— an experienced commander who went deep underground. The surviving Hamas leaders are likely to slow down the negotiations.
NBC News: Trump lashes out at Israel
President Trump criticized Israel for its attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, the country where peace talks on the Gaza Strip were held and a military base for thousands of American troops is located. Trump's criticism may have been caused by the fact that he was kept in the dark about Israel's plans for an attack. He wrote that the US military informed his administration that "Israel is attacking Hamas, which, unfortunately, is located in the area of Doha, the capital of Qatar."
NBC News
"The unilateral bombing of Qatar, a sovereign state and a close ally of the United States, which works very hard and bravely takes risks with us to achieve peace, does not contribute to the achievement of Israel's or America's goals," Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the decision to carry out the attack was made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At the same time, Trump wrote on Tuesday that "eliminating Hamas, which profits from the suffering of Gazans, is a worthy goal." This comment made his public criticism of Israel even more unexpected. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, the Prime minister of Qatar, called the Israeli strike an "act of betrayal." Trump spoke with Al Thani to assure him that such an attack would not happen again.
Axios: Israeli strike angered Trump's advisers
On the morning of September 9, the US military spotted Israeli planes flying east towards the Persian Gulf. The US asked for clarification, but by the time Israel provided the information, the missiles were already in the air, three US officials said. The news stunned the White House and angered some of Trump's top advisers, as it came at a time when the United States was waiting for Hamas to respond to the president's new proposal for peace in the Gaza Strip.
Axios
In fact, representatives of Hamas met to discuss this proposal. The White House expected to receive a response from Hamas by the end of the week. Qatar has become the seventh country that Israel has bombed since October 7, 2023. President Trump told reporters on Tuesday evening that he was "not happy" about the Israeli strike on Qatar.
After Trump was informed of the impending strike, he instructed White House Special Representative Steve Witkoff to notify the Qataris. The American official said that by the time Witkoff reached them, the bombs had already reached their target. A day earlier, Netanyahu's top adviser Ron Dermer met in Miami with Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Although Dermer was aware of the events, he did not say anything about plans to strike Qatar, a source familiar with the situation said.
The New York Times: Israel has left Trump in the dark again
Trump said he learned about the Israeli airstrike on Qatar from the US military, and not from Netanyahu, whom he often calls a friend and his most loyal ally in the Middle East. It was a familiar surprise. In June, Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran without warning, initially drawing condemnation from Washington, until Trump decided to join a campaign he considered victorious.
The New York Times
Netanyahu has taken advantage of his relationship with Trump to launch brazen attacks similar to Tuesday's attack on the Hamas leadership, often using American weapons with little or no warning to Washington. And each time, he became convinced that Trump and his administration, as on Tuesday, would express dissatisfaction, but in the end they would decide to leave everything unpunished.
Trump stressed that the Israelis had again left the United States in the dark. He said he would release a full statement on how he learned about the attack on September 10. The episode highlighted Trump's haphazard approach to the Gaza war, one of the many conflicts around the world that he sought to end. According to foreign policy experts, this freed Netanyahu's hands to continue the war, which caused outrage around the world, accusations of genocide and a humanitarian catastrophe.
CNN: Israel's attack deals a new blow to Trump's tarnished international reputation
Assuming that Trump's statement that he was unable to stop an Israeli strike on Hamas representatives in a residential area of Qatar is true, then he has just received another crushing blow to his international credibility. The strike, in which Israel ignored the profound consequences for America's vital interests, has become a new disgrace for Trump at a time when he is also being led by the nose by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
CNN
Events in the Middle East are unlikely to significantly damage Trump's political reputation at home, as his fight against crime unfolds amid concerns about a slowing economy. However, an Israeli attack in broad daylight in Doha could destroy his image as an overbearing leader with tough authority and fear abroad.
The strike grossly violated the sovereignty of a vital U.S. ally that hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East and is negotiating with Hamas on behalf of the White House on a plan that Trump predicts will soon lead to a deal. This not only became a personal insult to Trump, but also put Netanyahu's goals above the most important security priorities of the United States.
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