Qatar condemns Netanyahu’s ‘reckless’ remarks on hosting Hamas office

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(Reuters) -Qatar hit back at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a strongly worded statement early on Thursday, describing his remarks about the Gulf country’s hosting of a Hamas office as “reckless”.

The heated exchange came more than a day after Israel attempted to kill Hamas political leaders in an air strike on Qatar on Tuesday, escalating its military campaign in the Middle East and prompting a flurry of international condemnations.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu warned Qatar to either expel Hamas officials or “bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will.” He also accused Qatar of providing safe haven and financing to Hamas, drawing a sharp rebuke from Doha.

In a statement, Qatar’s foreign ministry condemned what it described as Netanyahu’s “explicit threats of future violations of state sovereignty”.

“Netanyahu is fully aware that the hosting of the Hamas office took place within the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel,” the ministry added.

“The negotiations were always held in an official and transparent manner, with international support and in the presence of U.S. and Israeli delegations. Netanyahu’s insinuation that Qatar secretly harbored the Hamas delegation is a desperate attempt to justify a crime condemned by the entire world.”

Qatar, along with Egypt, has been mediating peace talks between Hamas and Israel. It warned that Israel’s attack on Doha threatened to derail those negotiations.

“We will work with our partners to ensure Netanyahu is held accountable and that his reckless and irresponsible actions are brought to an end,” the foreign ministry said.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher; Editing by Sonali Paul)