Israel’s failed attack on Qatar demonstrated its weakness, bewilderment and bankruptcy

The aggression against Qatar cannot be viewed as a passing incident, but a watershed moment and a serious provocation to the Middle East. Of course, Israel could not have committed such a major offensive without the green light from Washington, especially if the target was a US-ally, hosting the largest US base in the region and a source of billions of investments in the USA.

Further, there were indications that President Trump was involved in luring Hamas leaders into a trap, by threatening Hamas that (the gates of hell) would open upon it if it did not meet immediately and respond positively to the US proposal to release the Israeli hostages. This ultimatum obliged Hamas negotiators to meet urgently in Doha, making them sitting ducks for an Israeli air strike.

The belated US denial was because of the failure of the operation and a need to find a scapegoat, in this instance Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. Had the assassination of Hamas leaders succeeded, the president himself would have tweeted affirming “Israel’s right to defend itself and its right to kill terrorists threatening its security.”

The seriousness of the aggression lies in the fact that it targeted a state that was the centre of all efforts to stop the war in Gaza. Even Washington had resorted to, to free one of its hostages. So was Netanyahu himself. This operation confirmed Netanyahu’s disrespect for international law, especially when it comes to dealing with an Arab state.  Netanyahu sought to demonstrate Israel’s power and might, which is something everyone is aware of, and of Washington’s backing and its steadfast support to exempt Israel from all penalties. But in actuality, the operation revealed Netanyahu’s insolvency, bewilderment, incapacity to choose his strategic aims, and inability to establish his priorities. Instead of indicating a high skill, it indicated an inadequacy.

Considering the fact that Israel could have trusted foreign agents, as it has done in the past, to handle the situation, and that the planned target was regarded as soft, simple, and exposed. Moreover, even if the strike has been successful in killing some resistance leaders, this would not have altered the reality that the new military leadership in charge of the conflict inside Gaza is not greatly influenced by the overseas leadership. It is an established fact that the resistance under its current youthful leadership has managed to stay in the arena and continue its fighting with the Israeli enemy despite losing the key figures that organised and carried out its 7^th October offensive.

Also, the operation exposed a divide within the high echelon of Israel’s military and intelligence leaderships, as well as a significant intelligence failure. This was made clear by the failure to hunt Hamas leaders abroad, and by Netanyahu’s statement that the operation was only organised by the Shin Bet and that several security and military officials disapproved of it.

As a result, Israel and the United States stance in the Middle East will undoubtedly suffer because of this botched effort. Now, every Arab nation, even those which normalised relations with Israel finds themselves in an awkward position. They no longer feel safe or protected from the evil of a renegade entity headed by someone who is confused and has lost his nerve. In addition, as members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, they must now adopt a stance commensurate with the seriousness of the crime committed against a state with which they have security accords and covenants. On the other hand, two specific questions are now surely raised by all nations that have US bases on their territory: One, what use are they if they are unable to defend the people and territories from rogue Israeli aggression? Two, if a small, peaceful country like Qatar, which is a close ally with the USA and had invested over one trillion dollar with it, which has been the first to mediate the release of American and Israeli hostages, provided a safe haven for all negotiators and never threatened Israel, were singled out, how would other states that are considered as part of Netanyahu’s plan for a new Middle East feel?

President Trump’s brief call to Emir Tamim bin Hamad was not encouraging at all, because he did not firmly denounce the attack. What is required is a clear denunciation and action denying Israel the military support it is employing to carry out genocide in Gaza, or to lunch further aggressions in the area. The UN session of Thursday 12^th was neither reassuring nor encouraging; it only denounced the attack in a statement that made no reference to Israel or Netanyahu.

Some contend -and rightly so- that the action delivered a catastrophic blow to the negotiation process, the possibility of a war-ending accord, and the prompt release of the remaining captives. This perspective, however, ignores a crucial fact that the operation was part of Netanyahu’s intentional and primary objective of blocking and foiling the negotiation process and continuing the extermination war he has been waging since October 2023, to only serve his political and personal interests.

Any rational mind cannot approve the attempt to implicate Qatar by asserting that it was notified moments before it happened, implying that Doha then notified Hamas leaders and provided them with last minute rescue. This was challenged by the fact that the son of the chief target, Hamas leader, Khalil al- Hayya, together with his secretary and a Qatari security member were among the martyrs of this heinous attack. Israel also claimed it carried out the operation in collaboration with other parties! And that its fighters had traversed the airspace of some Arab nations. This factual information is part of an effort to deflect attention from the crime itself, which Qatar and the Arab-Islamic countries should focus on.

The United States will undoubtedly try to minimise the gravity of what transpired, and will successfully persuade Qatar to keep up its mediation position. The risk however is that Hamas will be compelled to agree to the detainees’ release in exchange for a brief ceasefire, allowing the Israeli army to unrestrainedly resume its war of annihilation and forcible deportation of the Gazans, in conjunction with Trump’s plan of evacuating the whole region of Gaza, which he never wavered from, saying time and time again, “we are in no hurry.”

Despite all the significant losses and sacrifices, the resistance has been successful in blocking these projects thus far. Likewise, the legendary fortitude of the people of Gaza has done the same, thwarting all Israeli and American cruel attempts to evacuate them, hoping that their continuing steadfastness will eventually alter things inside Israel and the United States, and generating increasing opposition to Netanyahu and Trump’s policies. This notion is neither rhetoric nor wishful thinking. It is based on analysis of Jewish and American thinkers, the most recent of which was Professor Jeffrey Sachs, who predicted in his last video that “Something Big Is About to Happen in America,” a change that would allow the new generation supporting the Palestinian cause to have more influence. Only then will the United States become a source of the solution of the Palestinian dilemma.

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