Diplomacy in ruins after Israel strikes Hamas leaders in Qatar
Almost a year ago, I interviewed Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas leader in Doha. I met him in a house that was not far from the building where Israel attacked Tuesday afternoon.
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, he had been the chief Hamas negotiator who sent messages to the Israelis and Americans through al-Hayya, Qatar and Egyptian intermediaries.
In the moments that were thought to be possible, al-Hayya was just a short distance from Israel and American delegations with the targeted men in the afternoon. When they were attacked, al-Hayya and other best Hamas leaders discussed the latest American diplomatic suggestions to end the war in Gaza and release the remaining Israeli hostages.
He immediately fueled a quick statement about what Israel has done, immediately fueled speculation on social media, and that the latest American proposals were a point to obtain a place where Hamas leadership can be targeted.
On October 3 last year, I was surprised that Khalil al-Hayya entered the venue for a modest, low-storey villa meeting. We had to give up our phones and a few protection came home with him.
Outside the outdoors of closed clothes, the police smoke in a SUV. That was. He could not stop a face-protected air strike, but al-Hayya and his people were comfortable and confident.
The issue is that Qatar had to be safe, and they felt relatively safe to act relatively clearly.
A few months ago, on July 31, 2024, Israel assassinated İsmail Haniyeh, Hamas political leader in Tehran, where he attended the opening of President Masoud Pesshkian.
With the war in Gaza, I wondered if it was dangerous to sit in the same room with Khalil al-Hayya. But like him, I thought Qatar was deported.
In the last few decades, Qatar has tried to take a position as the Middle East Switzerland, a place where even enemies could agree.
The Americans negotiated with Afghan Taliban in Doha. And in almost two years since the attacks on October 7, 2023, Qatar is the center of diplomatic efforts to negotiate fires, and perhaps the end of the war.
The peace efforts directed by President Trump’s ambassador Steve Witkoff were decreasing badly. But now they’re collapsing. In the words of a high -level Western diplomat, “There is no diplomacy.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israelites that their enemies could never sleep easily and that they could not pay for the October 7 attacks.
The Israeli attack in Gaza is accelerating. A few hours before the attack on Doha, the Israeli army IDF told all the Palestinians in Gaza to go south and move. One million civilians are thought to be affected.
In his comments on television, Netanyahu, the Palestinians in Gaza, “Getting up from the rail by these killers. Don’t stand up for your rights and your future. Make peace with us. Accept President Trump’s offer. Don’t worry, you can do this and you can promise you a different future, but you should make these people out of the way.
If the Palestinians in Gaza can hear their words, they will play very empty. Israel, hundreds of thousands of people, as well as hospitals, universities and schools destroyed the homes.
Gaza has already been hungry, and the forced movement of many people with a humanitarian disaster in Gaza City and a humanitarian disaster in the region will only increase Israel’s deadly pressure on civilians.
Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority civilian. Netanyahu himself is faced with the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Criminal Court of War and is being investigated by the International Court of Court of Genocide of Israel.
The attack in Doha is a sign that Netanyahu and his government will print as far as Gaza but all the fronts. They are sure that their armies can implement their will with American support.
The Doha attack gained a rare rebuke from the White House. Qatar is a valuable ally, a major investor in the US, hosting a large US military base.
However, Netanyahu seems to be calculating that Donald Trump, the only leader he thinks he should listen to, will satisfy himself with the diplomatic equivalent of a rap on joints.
Israel’s attack in Gaza continues. And later on this month, Netanyahu’s allies of Netanyahu’s ultra -nationalist cabinets, as the planned recognition of Palestinian independence by Britain, France, Canada, Australia and other Western countries, will double calls to respond to the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank.
