JERUSALEM: If Israel failed to kill Hamas leaders in an airstrike on Qatar on Tuesday (Sep 9), it would succeed next time, the Israeli ambassador to the United States said after the operation, which raised concerns it would torpedo efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We have put terrorists on notice, wherever they may be …. we’re going to pursue them, and we’re going to destroy those who will destroy us,” Yechiel Leiter said in a speech at the US Capitol complex on Wednesday.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday, escalating its military action in the Middle East in what the US described as a unilateral attack that does not advance American and Israeli interests.
The airstrike took place shortly after Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting on Monday that killed six people at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
The widely condemned Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating in negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
The Wall Street Journal reported United States President Donald Trump had a heated call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, telling him his decision to target Hamas inside Qatar was not wise.
DIPLOMATIC ISSUES
In his speech at an event marking the fifth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and some Muslim-majority countries, Leiter criticised Qatar.
“What is Qatar doing if not financing and supporting terrorism by playing host to Hamas, the very people who sent the terrorists who murdered six people sitting at a bus stop in Jerusalem waiting to go about their business?” Leiter said.
The UN Security Council postponed a planned Wednesday meeting until Thursday at the request of Qatar so the country’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, could attend.
