Israel bombing Qatar brings the conflict in Gaza to the Gulf, rattling a US ally and upending diplomatic ceasefire efforts.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Israel at present, and he plans to deal with the current Israeli strike on Qatar, a strike the Trump administration stated, quote, “doesn’t advance Israel or America’s objectives.” Qatar is a U.S. ally that has performed a significant position as a mediator within the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Tomorrow, it is going to host an emergency summit of Arab and Muslim heads of state. NPR’s Aya Batrawy experiences from Qatar’s capital Doha because the nation reels from the Israeli assault.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Talking Arabic).
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Qatar’s ruling emir stands within the Imam Abdel Wahhab mosque in Doha for funeral prayers. Earlier than him are six coffins – 5 draped in Palestinian flags and one in Qatar’s.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Talking Arabic).
BATRAWY: The emir then reaches over to hug a tearful, inconsolable boy – the son of a slain Qatari safety officer killed with 5 lower-level Hamas figures in Israel’s bombing of a residential suburb on this Gulf Arab capital. The Qatari-funded and primarily based Al Jazeera information channel describes it as the primary time Palestinian and Qatari blood combine from Israel’s conflict in Gaza.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Talking Arabic).
BATRAWY: That conflict is greater than a thousand miles away, however Israeli warplanes introduced the billowing grey mud of their airstrikes to Doha after they bombed a residence the place Hamas’ exiled political leaders had been assembly to assessment the most recent U.S. proposal for Gaza. Israel missed its mark. No senior Hamas officers had been confirmed killed. However the strike hit on the core of Qatar’s high-stakes coverage of being a mediator in conflicts world wide. Doha is the place robust diplomacy occurs.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER FOUNTAIN FLOWING)
BATRAWY: I am right here on the Ritz Carlton. This is without doubt one of the most opulent accommodations within the Gulf area, and it’s on a – constructed on a man-made island. And it’s right here, surrounded by marble flooring, marble partitions, a water fountain, you understand, the piano taking part in within the background that Hamas’ political leaders and Israeli safety officers would have oblique talks, with Qatari officers shuffling messages between the flooring of this lodge and two others prefer it.
Israel’s assault on Qatar upended these efforts. At a U.N. Safety Council session after the assault, Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, requested, how might Qatar host Israeli representatives for ceasefire talks as Israeli leaders are plotting and finishing up assaults on its soil?
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PRIME MINISTER MOHAMMED AL THANI: (Talking Arabic).
BATRAWY: And he requested if anybody had ever heard of a state attacking a mediator with warplanes and finishing up annihilation makes an attempt on the negotiators.
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AL THANI: (Talking Arabic).
BATRAWY: Al Thani stated Israel’s being led by, quote, “bloodthirsty extremists.” President Donald Trump says Israel unilaterally attacked Hamas in Qatar with out notifying the U.S. first – one thing he says he is very sad about. Trump met with Qatar’s prime minister after the assault on the White Home. Elizabeth Dent, a senior fellow on U.S. protection coverage on the Washington Institute for Close to East Coverage, says the assault shakes the arrogance of Gulf Arab states in American safety ensures, which Trump emphasised on his journey right here in Might.
ELIZABETH DENT: You recognize, I believe what america has to show now’s its capability to rein in Israel.
BATRAWY: However Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays defiant.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: And I say to Qatar and all nations who harbor terrorists, you both expel them, otherwise you deliver them to justice. As a result of in case you do not, we’ll.
BATRAWY: Many Israelis initially celebrated the assault.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BATRAWY: Israel’s Channel 14 information confirmed its host popping a champagne bottle to music and a cheering stay viewers.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BATRAWY: Israelis thought the assault had killed the leaders of Hamas, the group behind the lethal October 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
YOEL GUZANSKY: However then with the passing of time, it was realized that we failed to do this.
BATRAWY: Yoel Guzansky, senior fellow and head of the Gulf program on the Tel Aviv-based Institute for Nationwide Safety Research, says Israel took a chance with this assault and misplaced. He says Netanyahu seems to be chasing an elusive last second, a crescendo to point out that Israel’s pursuit of Hamas and its conflict in Gaza that is killed tens of 1000’s of Palestinians is not a failure. However Guzansky says…
GUZANSKY: So we nonetheless have hostages there, and Hamas will not be crushed – massive failure.
BATRAWY: Dania Thafer, govt director of the Gulf Worldwide Discussion board, tells me from Qatar the Israeli assault additionally raises issues about america’ capability to guard its Gulf companions. Qatar not solely hosts Hamas but in addition 1000’s of U.S. troops and the headquarters of CENTCOM’s ahead command within the area.
DANIA THAFER: From the view and the angle throughout the area, it is type of changing into an enabler of insecurity within the area. And so the U.S. hasn’t been utilizing its leverage to discourage these type of assaults.
BATRAWY: These assaults included one in June when Iranian missiles, fired with superior discover, had been directed at U.S. troops in Qatar throughout Israel’s conflict with Iran. Dent of the Washington Institute says CENTCOM can defend the Gulf, however it was caught without warning.
DENT: I believe that there was most likely a important hole in radar protection, after which most likely some confusion at CENTCOM of, like – hey, one associate is attacking one other associate, how will we deal with this? – that led to this breakdown in communications and incapability to inform the Qataris in time.
BATRAWY: Trump’s dedication to the Gulf’s safety is being put to the check by Israel, and so too are his Abraham Accords. Monday marks 5 years because the United Arab Emirates and Israel established ties. However simply days in the past, the Emiratis summoned an Israeli diplomat, telling him the assault on Qatar is an assault on the Gulf’s safety as a complete. Aya Batrawy, NPR Information, Doha, Qatar.
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