Trump to meet Qatari prime minister after Israeli attack in Doha

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By Jarrett Renshaw

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump planned to have dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, a White House official said, days after U.S. ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.

Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing U.S.-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.

Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks will not happen again.

The official said Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will have dinner, joined by a top Trump adviser, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The session follows an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.

Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance U.S. or Israeli interests.

Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.

Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace, but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.

Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 2023 has killed over 64,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials, while internally displacing almost all Gaza’s population, and set off a starvation crisis. Multiple rights experts and scholars say Israel’s military assault on Gaza amounts to genocide.

Israel has rejected that determination. It launched its offensive in Gaza after an October 2023 attack by Hamas-led militants in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen in the course of the Gaza conflict.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Steve Holland; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Marguerita Choy)