Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Qatar on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, escalating its military action in the Middle East.
The United States, however, described the attack as a unilateral attack that does not advance American and Israeli interests.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was “very unhappy about every aspect” of the Israeli strike and would be giving a full statement on the issue on Wednesday, September 10.
“I’m not thrilled about it,” Trump said as he arrived at a Washington restaurant.
“It’s not a good situation but I will say this: We want the hostages back, but we’re not thrilled about the way it went down today,” the president added.
While Israel defended the attacks as being justified, Qatar said Israel was treacherous and engaged in “state terrorism.”
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said the airstrikes threatened to derail the peace talks Qatar has been mediating between Hamas and Israel.
Trump said he considered hitting Hamas a worthy goal, but he felt bad that the attack took place in the Gulf Arab state, which is a major non-NATO ally of Washington and where the Palestinian Islamist group has long had its political base.
‘This is my last warning’: Trump asks Hamas to free Gaza hostages
The attack drew condemnation from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union, and risks derailing Gaza ceasefire talks and Trump’s push to achieve a negotiated end to the nearly two-year-old conflict.
Qatar is a security partner of the United States and host to al-Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East. It has acted as a mediator alongside Egypt in talks between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza, which appears to be increasingly elusive.
Hamas said five of its members had been killed in the attack, including the son of Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, Reuters reported.
It said Israel had failed in what Hamas called an attempt to assassinate the group’s ceasefire negotiation team.
The Trump administration received warning of the attack from the U.S. military just before it took place, Trump said in a statement on social media earlier.
Trump did not say if it was Israel that notified the U.S. military.
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