“It wasn’t wise,” President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israel launched a surprise strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported on Wednesday that Trump rebuked Netanyahu in a heated phone call, voicing displeasure at an operation that risked destabilizing delicate regional diplomacy. Netanyahu defended the decision, saying he had only a brief window to act.
A second call between the leaders later the same day was more cordial, with Trump asking if the strike had succeeded. Netanyahu reportedly replied that he did not yet know.
Senior administration officials told the paper that Trump has grown frustrated with Netanyahu’s unilateral actions, which he believes often box Washington into positions conflicting with US aims in the Middle East.
The Israeli strike in Doha targeted senior Hamas figures meeting to discuss the latest US-backed ceasefire proposal. Israeli authorities confirmed the operation, carried out with the Shin Bet domestic security service. Hamas said five people were killed, including the son of senior official Khalil al-Hayya and an aide, Jihad Labad.
Hamas accused the United States of being “jointly responsible” for the attack and insisted the assassination attempt would not alter its negotiating stance in Gaza ceasefire talks. “Israel has failed,” Hamas declared in a statement.
Qatar, a key mediator alongside Egypt in the Gaza talks, denounced the strike as “cowardly” and a grave violation of international law. Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said the attack deliberately targeted residential buildings in Doha that housed members of Hamas’s political bureau.
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