Netanyahu promised Qatar not to strike again, PM Al Thani welcomed assurances: White House
The announcement comes soon after Netanyahu extended a formal apology to his Qatari counterpart for a recent military strike targeting Hamas officials in Doha.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised Qatar not to strike again even as Qatari leader Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani welcomes the assurances, the White House said on Monday.
The announcement comes soon after the Israeli leader extended a formal apology to his Qatari counterpart for a recent military strike targeting Hamas officials in Doha. Netanyahu made the call to his Qatari counterpart as he met with Trump.
Also Read: Netanyahu apologises to Qatari PM for Doha attack in call from White House: Report
“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,” the White House said in a statement.
“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," it added.
Meanwhile, Trump, during a briefing, called the exchange between the Israeli and Qatari leader as a “heart-to-heart” call.
Israel had launched an air strikes on a residential area in the Qatari capital, Doha, on September 9 targeting Hamas’s leadership. Though top Hamas leaders, who were meeting to discuss Trump's ceasefire proposal, survived the attack, it killed six people, including a Qatari security officer.
Also Read: White House releases Gaza peace plan as Trump meets Netanyahu
Qatar, along with several Middle Eastern countries, condemned the strike as a “flagrant violation of all international laws and norms”.
The apology from Netanyahu to Qatar come at a time when Israel is increasingly getting isolated and losing support from many countries that were its steadfast allies, according to the Associated Press.
Netanyahu is also facing challenges at home as his governing coalition is more fragile than ever.
