Netanyahu boasts about bombing Qatar, defends Gaza funds — SkimNews
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- Netanyahu said in an i24NEWS interview shared Saturday that he "attacked Qatar" and "bombed" it during the Gaza war, calling Qatar a "hostile" state that does not dictate Israeli policy.
- The interview lands days before the one-year anniversary of Israel's September 9, 2025 Doha strike, which killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer during U.S.-backed ceasefire discussions.
- Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari called that strike "cowardly," and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres labeled it a "flagrant violation" of Qatari sovereignty; Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia also condemned or rallied around Doha.
- Netanyahu and President Trump apologized to Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani from the White House later that month, though Netanyahu's interview casts the apology as superseded by continued strikes.
- Netanyahu defended the Qatari-funded Gaza transfers, saying they were recommended by Mossad and Shin Bet and represented only 2% of all money entering the Strip.
- Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed rejected allegations the funds helped prepare Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, telling the Doha Forum that "this is the financing of Qatar to Hamas, it has no basis."
- The remarks come as Netanyahu faces domestic pressure ahead of Israel's legislative elections next month.
Why it matters: Netanyahu is publicly relitigating both the Qatar bombing and the Gaza funds controversy weeks before Israeli elections, reframing the Doha strike as assertive policy and the Hamas-funding allegations as baseless. Qatar, long a key Middle East mediator, is being publicly branded "hostile" by the same leader it helped negotiate with, jeopardizing its mediator role in the Gaza ceasefire.
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