MORRISTOWN, New Jersey – US President Donald Trump has issued a strong warning to Israel, urging the country to be “very, very careful” in its actions concerning Qatar, a nation he described as a “great ally” to the United States. Trump’s remarks, made to reporters at Morristown Airport on Sunday, came in the wake of a controversial Israeli airstrike on Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha, last week.
The strike, which reportedly killed six people—including a Qatari security official and five Hamas members—has created a significant rift between Washington and Jerusalem. Trump expressed his displeasure with the attack, calling it a unilateral action that did not serve the interests of either the U.S. or Israel.
A Diplomatic Balancing Act
The Israeli strike on a key mediator’s territory has complicated ongoing efforts to secure a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war in Gaza. Qatar has been instrumental in these mediation attempts, and the attack has been seen by some as an assault on the very process of diplomacy.
This incident has put the Trump administration in a delicate position, balancing its strong support for Israel with the need to maintain a strategic partnership with Qatar, which hosts a major U.S. military base. In a demonstration of this diplomatic balancing act, Trump hosted Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, for a dinner on Friday, describing him as a “wonderful person” and advising him on the need for “better public relations.”
High-Level Meetings and Continued Tensions
Following Trump’s comments, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials. The purpose of Rubio’s visit is to convey Washington’s concerns about the attack in Qatar and to discuss Israel’s planned new offensive on Gaza City.
Meanwhile, Qatar is hosting a summit of Arab and Islamic nations to formulate a unified response to the Israeli strike. The Qatari Prime Minister has denounced the attack as an act of “state terrorism,” emphasizing that it undermines the principle of mediation itself.
The attack on Hamas’ top leadership, while failing to eliminate its most senior figures, has intensified the already volatile situation in the Middle East. It follows a series of Israeli strikes against what it calls Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” in various countries, highlighting the expanding scope of the conflict that began with the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023.
