By now, it seems clear that Israel’s strike on the Hamas political leadership in Doha didn’t succeed.
Tuesday’s bold attack – dubbed Operation “Summit of Fire” – targeted a gathering of Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital reportedly meeting to discuss a new hostage-ceasefire proposal from the United States.
It currently appears that the operation was unsuccessful and it’s been reported that Qatar is preparing to host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit in response.
It’s also becoming clear that the operation’s failure likely stemmed from Washington warning Qatari authorities just minutes before Israeli planes were set to strike. The Qataris, in turn, alerted the targeted Hamas officials, who quickly dispersed and evaded what should have been a decisive blow.
As difficult as it might be for many rightist Jews to accept, US President Donald Trump likely sabotaged the “Summit of Fire” operation due to his own shared interests with the Qatari leadership.
President Trump and many figures in his administration enjoy close economic ties with Qatari ruling class and it stands to reason that Trump would move to protect those interests.
Qatar also hosts the largest US military base in the Semitic region and serves as a key Arab mediator for Washington on a range of complicated issues.
In a statement on his Truth Social account on Tuesday, Trump expressed his displeasure with the Israeli operation.
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals.”
Trump also made clear that the White House wasn’t told by the Israelis about the strike and was only first informed of it by US military officials shortly before Israel launched it.
The president further explained that he had instructed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to alert Doha of the impending attack as soon as the information was received, “but unfortunately it was too late to stop it.”
Chances are high that Witkoff’s warning is what saved the lives of the Hamas political leadership. This wouldn’t be the first time Washington sabotaged an Israeli military operation by warning the targets of said operation.
In truth, it’s naive for any Israeli to trust the United States. It’s unrealistic to expect the interests of a waning global hegemon to line up with those of a small Jewish state surrounded by hostile neighbors (some of whom are closely allied to the waning global hegemon in question).
But what’s most important about Tuesday’s strike is the fact that it signals an increasing sense of Israeli independence.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) may no longer be as hesitant to act against American interests as in the past. Qatar’s close ties to Trump and to those around him, both in the administration and in the broader MAGA movement, are no secret. But they didn’t deter Jerusalem from penetrating into Qatar in pursuit of Israel’s enemies.
The operation may have failed but its message to the region should be clear. Israel’s no longer on America’s leash.
