BURSTThe White House on Tuesday said President Trump “feels very bad” about the location of Israel’s Tuesday strike in Qatar that targeted Palestinian militant group Hamas’s senior officials in Doha.
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and greatly taking risks with us to broker peace does not advance Israel or America's goals,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Tuesday press briefing.
“The President views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of this attack. President Trump wants all of the hostages in Gaza and the bodies of the dead released and this war to end now,” she added.
The administration was notified of the strike by the U.S. military, Leavitt said. It's unclear how the military was made aware of the plans. Leavitt said Trump directed special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform Qatari officials of the “impending attack.”
The president spoke with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack and reiterated that he wants “peace," she added.
The strike was immediately condemned by Qatar and its neighboring states, warning that the attack risks escalating tensions in the region. The leaders of France and the United Kingdom also criticized the attack.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, said Israel’s “cowardly” attack targeted residential headquarters housing “several” members of the Hamas political wing and that the strike “constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms,” along with threatening the security and safety of Qataris.
The strike was targeting Hamas’ exiled top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, multiple outlets reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed officials. His son was killed in the attack, a Hamas official told Al Jazeera TV.
A member of Qatar’s internal security force, Bader Saad Mohammed al-Humaidi al-Dosari, was also killed in the strike, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday.
After the attack, Trump also spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to Leavitt.