‘We did exactly what US did’: Netanyahu says Israel should be applauded for attack on Hamas in Qatar

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a strongly-worded video message said if countries do not expel and bring terrorists to justice, they would. He decried the objections to Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar. Netanyahu said Israel did what America did after September 11, and stuck to the resolution passed in the UN Security Council.

On the eve of September 11, the day terrorists launched multiple coordinated attacks in America, and destroyed the World Trade Center, Netanyahu said, “We remember September 11th. On that day Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery on American soil since the founding of the United States. We also have a September 11th. We remember October 7th. On that day Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.” On October 7, Hamas launched an attack in Israel that led to the deaths of over 1,000 people.

“What did America do in the wake of September 11th,” asked Netanyahu. “It promised to hunt down the terrorists who committed this heinous crime, wherever they may be, and it also passed a resolution in the Security Council of the UN two weeks later that said governments cannot give harbour to terrorists. Well, yesterday we acted along those lines. We went after the terrorist masterminds who committed the October 7th massacre and we did so in Qatar that gives safe haven. It harbours terrorists. It finances Hamas. It gives its terrorist chieftains sumptuous villas. It gives them everything. So, we did exactly what America did when it went after the terrorists, the Al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, and after they went and killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan,” he said.

Netanyahu said countries should be lauding Israel. “Now, various countries of the world condemn Israel. They should be ashamed of themselves. What did they do after America took out Osama Bin Laden? Did they say ‘oh what a terrible thing was done to Afghanistan or to Pakistan’? No. They applauded. They should applaud Israel for standing up to the same principles and carrying them out. And I say to Qatar and all nations that harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice because if you don’t, we will,” he added.

Qatar's foreign ministry condemned Netanyahu’s message, adding that the Hamas office in Qatar was established within the mediation efforts as requested by the UN and Israel. Qatar, along with Egypt, has been mediating peace talks between Hamas and Israel.

"Netanyahu is fully aware that the hosting of the Hamas office took place within the framework of Qatar's mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel. The negotiations were always held in an official and transparent manner, with international support and in the presence of US and Israeli delegations. Netanyahu's insinuation that Qatar secretly harbored the Hamas delegation is a desperate attempt to justify a crime condemned by the entire world," said the foreign ministry, adding that they will work with their partners to ensure Netanyahu is held accountable and his “reckless and irresponsible actions are brought to an end".

Meanwhile, according to a Wall Street Journal report, US President Donald Trump told Netanyahu that his decision to target Hamas inside Qatar wasn't wise. The report stated that Trump made the comments during a heated phone call on Tuesday after the attack. Netanyahu reportedly said that he had a brief window to launch the strikes and took the opportunity. A second call between the leaders later on Tuesday was cordial, with Trump asking Netanyahu if the attack proved to be successful.