Netanyahu openly admits Israel attacked Qatar

Photo: Collected

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly admitted that Israel carried out an attack on Qatar, in addition to its ongoing offensive in Gaza.

In an interview with an Israeli television channel, Netanyahu directly described Qatar as an “enemy state.” He also said that Israel had attacked and carried out bombing operations on Qatari territory during the war.

Israel is scheduled to hold elections on October 27. Political analysts believe Netanyahu is making such controversial and provocative remarks ahead of the election in an attempt to attract support from his far-right base.

In September last year, Israel carried out an airstrike on Qatar’s capital, Doha, killing five Hamas representatives and a Qatari security official. The attack took place while peace talks were underway and drew widespread international condemnation. The United Nations and several countries strongly condemned the incident.

Amid the backlash, Netanyahu was later forced to apologize to Qatar’s prime minister by phone from the White House in the presence of US President Donald Trump.

In the same interview, Netanyahu also responded to criticism from opponents in Israel. The opposition had alleged that Hamas used funds sent from Qatar to Gaza with Netanyahu’s backing to prepare for its major attack in 2023.

In response, Netanyahu claimed that Israel’s intelligence agencies had advised sending aid money to Gaza and that the funds accounted for only two percent of the total assistance entering the territory.

Qatar has denied the allegations from the outset, saying that all of its assistance was delivered transparently and solely for the benefit of civilians.

Source: Al Jazeera