Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Qatar for striking its territory during a meeting with President Donald Trump, the White House said Monday.
Israel’s military targeted senior Hamas leadership in Qatar with an airstrike earlier this month that also killed a Qatari security official.
Trump distanced himself from Netanyahu’s decision to strike a top ally in the Middle East, writing on Truth Social at the time it ‘does not advance Israel or America’s goals.’
Qatar has been a key host of discussions aimed at hashing out a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. It also hosts about10,000 U.S. troops.
During a trilateral call with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Netanyahu expressed ‘deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,’ according to a White House readout.
‘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.’
Al Thani welcomed the assurances, according to the readout, and Trump ‘expressed his desire to put Israeli-Qatar relations on a positive track after years of mutual grievances and miscommunications.’
‘They really had a heart-to-heart conversation,’ Trump said in a news conference after his meeting with Netanyahu. ‘It was a great conversation, and I thought it was productive.’
He said that the U.S., Israel and Qatar agreed to launch a formal trilateral mechanism to begin dialogue ‘to enhance mutual security, correct misperceptions, and avoid future misgivings.’
Trump praised the emir as a ‘fantastic person’ and noted his role as a mediator in the peace process. He added that he hoped Qatar could join the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization deals between Middle Eastern nations and Israel that Trump brokered during his first administration.
It came as Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza.
The plan includes granting Hamas terrorists who give up their arms in favor of peace ‘amnesty,’ establishing Gaza as a ‘deradicalized terror-free zone’ and Israel pulling back from the territory and ceasing military operations.
The plan explained that within 72 hours of Israel accepting the agreement, Hamas will release remaining hostages in its captivity — whether they are alive or deceased.
Upon the release of the remaining hostages, Israel will then release ‘250 life-sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after Oct. 7, 2023,’ according to the fifth point of the plan.
‘Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries,’ the sixth point of the plan read.
Gaza will not be controlled by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, but by ‘those committed to peace,’ according to Netanyahu.
Hamas has not yet accepted the agreement, with Trump threatening the terrorist group to accept the plan or likely face further bloodshed.
‘Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas,’ Trump said Monday during a press conference, warning Hamas to accept the deal.
