Global Outcry Against Israel's Actions on Hamas in Qatar

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Key Points

Australia has denounced Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar’s capital.
The strike in Israel’s name claimed the lives of five Hamas members, including the son of a senior leader.
Global leaders assert that these attacks severely jeopardize ceasefire efforts in the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has criticized Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar, stating they will “obviously make it harder” to negotiate a peace agreement and could escalate tensions in the Middle East conflict.

The strike resulted in the deaths of five Hamas members, including the son of al-Hayya, and a Qatari security officer, according to Hamas.

This escalation has led the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting on Wednesday.

Peace deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas, along with hostage releases, have frequently taken place in Qatar, as well as in Egypt and the United States.

Wong emphasized that these attacks in Qatar threaten those initiatives.

“The Australian government believes this was the wrong move. Qatar has been one of the parties actively seeking an immediate ceasefire and collaborating with the United States on hostage releases,” she remarked to ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday.

“This violates Qatar’s sovereignty. It endangers the ceasefire efforts and risks further escalation.”

Black smoke billows from a residential compound in the Qatari capital of Doha.

The attack on a Hamas facility in Doha, Qatar’s capital, led to five Hamas members’ deaths, though the group noted that its senior leadership survived. Source: Getty / Anadolu

Wong added that Australia was limited in its ability to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas but continued to work alongside others towards peace.

“We can’t end the war. What we can do is support the calls for a ceasefire and the work and the work of the United States and others to try to broker a ceasefire,” she said.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also criticised the strikes, saying the attack violated Qatar’s sovereignty and risked derailing ceasefire negotiations.

“I want to see peace in that region, I do not want to see an escalation,” he added.

US President Donald Trump also condemned Israel’s strikes in a rare rebuke against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and insisted he played no role in the attack.

“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.

“I regard Qatar as a close Ally and friend of the U.S., and am deeply concerned about the attack’s location,” he commented, though he maintained that targeting Hamas remains a “worthy goal”.

Trump agreed that the attacks damaged ceasefire efforts.

“Bombing unilaterally within Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the U.S. that is bravely working hard and taking risks with us to secure peace, does not align with Israel or America’s objectives.”

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Qatar reserved “the right to respond to this blatant attack”, calling the strike a “pivotal moment” for the region.

But he added: “Nothing will deter us from continuing this (mediation) role for all the different issues around us in the region.”

‘War must not be allowed to spread’

The UK, France and Germany have also condemned Israel’s air strikes on Doha.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on X they were “unacceptable regardless of motive” and added that “the war must not be allowed to spread in the region”.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the attack risked “further escalation” in the volatile region.

“I condemn Israel’s strikes on Doha … The priority must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and a huge surge in aid into Gaza,” he posted on X.

United Nations secretary-general António Guterres also condemned the attack.

Responding to the condemnation from France and Britain, Netanyahu accused the critics of forgetting Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.

“Much of the world, including much of the democratic world, or governments at least, have shamefully, shamefully forgotten October 7th,” he said at a US embassy function in Jerusalem.

“But I don’t forget, and Israel will never forget.”

Benjamin Netanyahu wearing a grey suit and blue tie

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that critics of Israel’s actions in Doha overlook the deadly attack by Hamas on Israel in October 2023. Source: SIPA USA / Sergei Guneyev

In Brussels, European Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said: “Today’s airstrike by Israel against Hamas leaders in Doha breaches international law and Qatar’s territorial integrity, and risks a further escalation of violence in the region.”

The United Arab Emirates called the Israeli attack on Doha “blatant and cowardly”, while regional power Saudi Arabia denounced what it called a “brutal Israeli aggression” against Qatar’s sovereignty.

It is not the first time Qatar has been caught in the crossfire of the turmoil in the Middle East.

Iran fired missiles at the US Al Udeid airbase in June in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.