Qatar to continue mediation after Israel expresses regret over strike on Hamas

Qatar said Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani expressed appreciation for the "apology" and "assurances" he received from his Israeli counterpart

Qatar's prime minister has said it is ready to continue its efforts to end the war in Gaza, after his Israeli counterpart expressed regret over an air strike that targeted Hamas leaders in Doha earlier this month.

In a trilateral call with US President Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu told Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani that he regretted the killing of a Qatari security officer in the 9 September attack and violating Qatar's sovereignty, according to the White House.

He also affirmed that Israel would not conduct such a strike again in the future, it said.

Hamas said its leaders survived the attack but that five lower-level members were killed along with the Qatari officer.

The conversation between the Israeli and Qatari leaders took place on Monday, shortly before Trump announced a new 20-point plan to end the conflict in Gaza.

Trump said a deal was "beyond close" and called on Hamas to accept the terms.

Netanyahu expressed his support for the plan, as did eight Arab and Muslim states including Qatar, which has handed a copy to Hamas officials in Doha.

Qatar has hosted the Hamas political bureau since 2012 and has served along with the US and Egypt as a mediator in indirect negotiations between the group and Israel throughout the 23-month war in Gaza. It is also a key US ally in the region and hosts a major American airbase.

On 9 September, Israeli jets fired missiles at a residential compound in the Qatari capital where Hamas's negotiating team was discussing a previous US ceasefire proposal.

Hamas said the assassination attempt failed and that five lower-level members were killed, including chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya's son and the director of his office, along with a member of Qatar's Internal Security Force.

Netanyahu insisted at the time that the strike was "fully justified" because it targeted Hamas leaders who had organised the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the Gaza war, and had launched further attacks on Israelis since then.

However, Qatar reacted with fury, saying the strike was a "criminal assault" that constituted a "blatant violation of all international laws and norms".

Trump said he was "very unhappy about every aspect" of the strike.

On Monday, the White House announced that the president had hosted a phone call with the Israeli and Qatari prime ministers in an effort to put relations "on a positive track after years of mutual grievances and miscommunications".

"As a first step, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his deep regret that Israel's missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman," a statement said.

"He further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future."

The Israeli prime minister's office quoted Netanyahu as telling Sheikh Mohammed that Israel "regrets that one of your citizens was killed in our strike" and that it had "no plan to violate your sovereignty again in the future".

However, Qatar's foreign ministry said that Netanyahu had "apologised for the attack on Doha and on Qatar's sovereignty" and had pledged to "not repeat any targeting of Qatari territory".

Sheikh Mohammed had expressed "appreciation for the assurances" and underscored Qatar's "readiness to continue engaging in efforts to bring an end to the war in the Gaza Strip, within the framework of the US president's initiative", it added.

After news of the call emerged, Netanyahu faced fierce criticism in his own country from ministers and MPs from both his right-wing governing coalition and the opposition.

"The grovelling apology to a state that supports and funds terrorism is a disgrace," far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, another far-right leader, asserted: "The attack on Hamas leaders, the planners of the 7 October massacre in the enemy state of Qatar - was an important, just and supremely moral attack."

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Netanyahu "should not apologise to the citizens of Qatar, but to the citizens of Israel: for 7 October, for the political devastation, for the attempt to promote the draft evasion law during wartime, for the establishment of the most extreme and destructive government in the state's history."

The head of the opposition Democratic Party, Yair Golan, called it a "humiliation".

"In order to defeat Hamas, you have to replace Bibi [Netanyahu] and Qatar," he added.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 66,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.