The strike of the Qatar of Israel supports relations with relations with the main allies of the Middle East

The White House has published a rare public reprimand of Israel for its strikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar, putting Washington in a delicate position between two key allies.

The Trump administration almost never breaks with Israel in military campaigns. But analysts say that the deepest question is how the United States knew in advance and if he quietly offered his blessing.

Hamas said the strike had killed five of its members, but had not affected the group’s negotiation delegation. A Qatari security official has also died, stressing the risk of climbing when Israeli operations pour out in the territory of American partners.

“There is a lot of opponent when it comes to exactly what the United States knew and when,” said Daniel Benaim, a principal researcher at the Middle East Institute. “But the president was quite clear that he was not satisfied with the substance and the process of what happened yesterday. This type of public declaration of an American president following a strike like this is already very notable in its own right.”

The Israeli strike targets Hamas leadership in Qatar

A damaged building after an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders, according to an Israeli official, in Doha, Qatar, on September 9, 2025. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters)

A few days before the strike, Trump expressed what he called a “last warning” to Hamas, urging the group to accept a proposal sustained by the United States to release the hostages of Gaza. The timing has fueled speculation on the question of whether the strike was linked to the frustration of Washington with Hamas and if Israel acted with at least the approval of the United States.

“It seems that the Israelis would not have done it without it knowing it,” said Michael Makovsky, CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security in America.

“They have an American base in this country with everything that is happening with the talks hostage. I had the impression that he knew, and it is difficult to understand exactly what happened – that if he knew, he had sat on it, then he said to the Qataris only when the missiles were flying.”

But Trump had hardwords on the strike on Tuesday, writing on Truth Social according to which it “does not advance the objectives of Israel or America”.

The White House claimed to have learned from the American army that the missiles were in motion and had the Qataris warned. Qatar denied having obtained a kind of advanced warning.

If Washington knew in advance, why issue the reprimand? If this was not the case, how could Israel act so freely in the airspace dominated by the American army? One or the other option raises uncomfortable questions on the American lever effect.

Qatar threatens to “retaliate” against Israel for Doha Strike on Hamas

“Israel would not do what he did without a kind of approval from the United States,” said Dr. Yoel Guzansky, principal researcher and head of the Gulf program at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies. “The Trump administration wants to be distant, and it is understandable because it has good relations with the Qataris.”

This relationship is anchored in difficult power. The largest air base abroad in the United States, Al Udeid, is on Qatari soil and welcomes more than 10,000 American soldiers. Qatar is one of the best American weapons buyers and recently gave the administration a new Air Force One plane. However, none of this has dissuaded the strike of Israel.

“If the United States did not know, then we have a big problem because Israel surprised the United States, and that could damage American-Qatari relations,” said Guzansky.

Others argue that the United States may have been more aligned with the operation than its rhetoric suggests.

“The fact that the American defenses in Al Udeid were not used against Israeli jets is an excellent indicator that Washington was not opposed to the strike,” Ahmad Sharawi, a researcher for the defense of democracies, said.

But the International Media Bureau of Qatar called the claims that Qatar revived its security partnership with the “categorically false” United States.

“It is a clear and failed attempt to drive a corner between Qatar and the United States”

Vehicles stop at a red light one day after an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, September 10, 2025. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters)

Stratches on Gulf Relations

The reverberations extend beyond Washington and Doha. Strikes are likely to disrupt delicate awareness between Israel, the United States and the Gulf States, in particular Saudi Arabia, which has been subject to silent but supported pressures to join the Abraham agreements, normalization operations in the United States between Israel and Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emières.

“The regional dynamics of power change,” said Benaim. “The Gulf States are a little less concerned with the threat of Iran, which pushed them closer to Israel, and they see that Israel is engaged in activities in the region, whether Syria or inside Iran or now inside Doha.”

Doha’s strike from Israel has sent a decisive message that terror will not find a refuge

The divergence is austere. Gulf leaders want de -escalation and stability to rename their states as investment, tourism and economic recovery centers. Israel, on the other hand, continues a strategy of direct confrontation with Iran on several fronts.

“The Gulf States which really focus on their own economic recovery do not like the image of cities that smoke and smoke cities in the Gulf subject to bombs because they try to attract investments and create an image of common stability,” said Benaim.

This discrepancy could slow normalization, even if it does not derail it.

“Israel probably underestimates the power of the Gulf ‘solidarity and the barrier crossed when you see Israel striking inside a CCG state (Gulf Cooperation Council),” added a former senior state department. “I don’t think it means that their relationships will be uningering or relaxing, but these things throw a shadow.”

Sharawi counts that the indignation of the Gulf could be less concerning Israel itself than on the previous one of a strike on the ground of the CCG.

“It was an Israeli action against a colleague partner of the CCG despite the hostile relationship of countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with Qatar in the past,” he said. “But Gulf leaders are also deeply critical of Qatar for welcoming Hamas. In private, many will understand why Israel acted, even if they condemn it publicly.”

Qatar balancing

For Qatar, strikes open both vulnerability and an opportunity. On the one hand, he cannot afford to appear passive in the face of foreign attacks against his soil. Analysts expect Doha to answer through diplomatic channels, critical media coverage and perhaps limited economic measures against Israel.

But Qatar also has a long history of transformation of the crisis into relevance.

“The Qataris want to be the mediator again because they earn a lot of international points – especially in the United States,” said Guzansky. “It’s in their DNA.”

This means that Qatar’s public indignation can coexist with a return to diplomacy of the shuttle, positioning itself once again as essential for cease-fire negotiations.

Sharawi maintains that the story of Qatar victims also obscures its complicity.

“The leadership of a terrorist organization has failed to bring a lasting ceasefire, and Qatar has empowered Hamas by hosting them,” he said. “Even if Gulf leaders will not say it publicly, they are very anti-Hamas. This context matters the way in which normalization prospects are seen after this strike.”

Earlier this week, Brian Kilmeade of Fox News told a Qatari spokesperson It looked more like the nation “to take the side of Hamas” than to play the mediator.

“When one of the parties decides to attack our sovereignty in a residential area where my compatriots, the residents of Qatar, live in schools and nurseries right next to it, believe me, it is very difficult to maintain a very calm voice,” said the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Al Ansari.

The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz promised to hit “enemies everywhere” after strikes. (Reuters / Ronen Zvulun)

A different reaction from Iran

The Doha strikes also highlight an asymmetry in the reactions of the Gulf. When Iran hit Al Udeid Air Base earlier this year, Gulf ‘solidarity with Qatar was silent. This time, the convictions flocked in the minute per minute.

“You have not seen the leaders of the Gulf coming and hugging the Qataris after Iran’s strike,” noted Guzansky. “But with Israel, the reaction was much stronger, with strong rhetoric in the Arab world.”

Sharawi agrees but rises differently.

“They were too critical of Israel about Iran,” said Sharawi. “The Jordanian King even said that Qatar’s security was the security of Jordan, a very strong declaration. The Arabs do not hesitate to cling to everything that criticizes Israel, and that showed yesterday, even in comparison with Iran.”

The contrast underlines a regional reality. Gulf leaders fear climbing with Tehran, but criticizing Israel has little risks. For Qatar, the difference offers a chance to rally sympathy and highlight its sovereignty – even though its neighbors quietly put its choice to welcome Hamas.

A shadow on normalization

The military scope of Israel is undeniable. But by hitting Doha inside, he may have paid a hidden diplomatic price, strengthening the perceptions of Israel as a destabilizing actor at a time when the Gulf States seek their calm.

The fact that Hamas leaders have survived while a Qatari security manager has been killed can further complicate the repercussions, increasing anger in Doha while leaving the main objective of incomplete Israel.

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The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz promised to hit “enemies everywhere”.

“There is no place where they can hide,” Katz said in a Publish on x, Soup questions about the question of whether a sovereign nation like Turkey, an ally of NATO, which houses High leaders of Hamas, could be the next one.