Israel bombs Qatar: Where is this reckless use of power taking the Middle East?

The unexpected had happened. Israel bombed Qatar. I don’t know if attacking Qatar by the Israeli army is the single most unexpected move at this stage or not. At the very least, it was never on the table of expectations — or only buried at the very bottom of it, at best. Qatar is a main, long-standing mediator between Israel and Hamas since the beginning of the October 2023 Israeli war in Gaza, and even before. Qatar has long served as a link of political contact between Israel and the Palestinian factions, especially Hamas, and is still playing a vital role along with Egypt to end the Gaza war and secure the release of the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza. And now, for the first time, it is directly bombed by Israel — another wave of the unexpected, another irrational display of the Israeli excessive use of power.

Trying to rethink what has just happened is difficult and vague. Israel has carried out a military attack on Doha, the capital city of Qatar. This is the very city where the Israeli negotiating team, along with the American one, has flown countless times since the beginning of the diplomatic efforts.

The attack comes at a time when Qatar, one of the main mediators, is working to end the Gaza war. It is happening during some of the most sensitive hours of the talks. The most recent plan offered by US President Trump was in its final stage of deliberations to discuss a way to end the war and release the captives.

Hours before the Israeli attack on Qatar, there was another one on the very same day, but it was overshadowed by the Doha strike. It happened in Tunisia, where the Sumud Flotilla was preparing to sail in yet another attempt to break the siege on Gaza and bring humanitarian aid to the people suffering from an unprecedented Israel-imposed famine. The flotilla, off the shores of Tunisia, was targeted by an Israeli drone strike to prevent the mission from starting. This came after several previous attempts to break the siege through Gaza support flotillas, all of which were hijacked and forcefully redirected to Israeli ports, where activists were arrested and missions aborted.

READ: Hamas says 5 members killed in Israeli strike on Qatari capital, negotiating team survived

One other point worth serious deliberation at this stage of trying to make sense of Israel’s attack on Qatar is this: Israel may have simply sought to eliminate the very negotiating team it has been engaging with indirectly — through Qatar and Egypt — to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas. It is highly uncommon — almost unprecedented — for one side involved in political negotiation to end a certain conflict, to target the mediators or facilitators as part of its diplomatic tactics, not just this, but also attack to kill the opposite negotiating team of the other side. What we’ve heard from Israel so far also suggests that the attack was carried out with full awareness and approval from the American side — the same side that drafted the current proposal Hamas leadership was actively considering when the strike occurred. This is level recklessness threatens to take the Arab-Israeli conflict to realms beyond our imagination.

Silly protocol denouncements and shows of support statements came out of most Middle Eastern and world governments, including the helpless United Nations Secretary-General, at a stage in the Middle East where action and implementation of decisions are most needed to establish order and bring peace. Meanwhile, the people in Gaza are dealing with a genocide for more than two years, with no signals of a near end, while Israel is expanding aggression from Yemen to Iran and Syria. And now Qatar is joining the list of nations bombarded by Israel in its drive to establish superiority and security for the self-styled Jewish state.

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Now, with Israel bombing mediators and targeting the opposing negotiating team, it is clear that talks and initiatives to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal are unwanted by the Israeli side. We face a single, stark scenario as the region and the world witness the Middle East conflict, starting from Gaza and expanding: Israel remains the sole decisive actor, while the rest of the world plays the role of passive spectators or, at best, emotional sympathisers. Their involvement diverts attention but does nothing to end the state of war, famine and genocide in Gaza. Meanwhile, a massive number of Palestinians are being pushed as we speak into crowded southern corners of the enclave, in huge numbers and inhumane condition, leaving large swathes of Gaza empty under prolonged Israeli occupation. Even more alarming is the prospect—repeatedly proposed by the Israeli Prime Minister and echoed by U.S. President Trump—of forcibly removing most of Gaza’s two million Palestinians, effectively uprooting them from their homeland out of Gaza.

The same Israeli Prime Minister who has taken the bold decision to bomb Qatar—the mediator, the main ally of the United States in the Gulf, and a country with a broad regional political role for years—is clearly willing to take further steps toward Egypt as well, in an effort to push his own agenda of displacing the Palestinian people of Gaza into Egypt and beyond  effectively closing the Gaza file once and for all perhaps before turning into the West Bank with similar plans. Hence, the bombing of Qatar is arguably the right moment for Arab nations and their allies to step up and take a firm political and strategic stance at this critical stage of the conflict, before the situation deteriorates even further. It is time to show unity, to demonstrate that they have a clear vision for the future of their own region, and to assert red lines when it comes to national security for each state in the region, as well as the broader meaning of sovereignty, stability, and security across the Middle East, and for all not just for the state of Israel.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.