Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (September 29, 2025) apologised to Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for a military strike targeting Hamas officials in the emirate that infuriated Arab leaders and triggered rare condemnation by the U.S. of Israel, according to two people, including a diplomatic official, familiar with the matter.

The White House said Mr. Netanyahu expressed regret for Israel violating Qatari sovereignty and “affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future.”

“The leaders discussed a proposal for ending the war in Gaza, prospects for a more secure Middle East, and the need for greater understanding between their countries,” the White House said before a news conference with Mr. Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister.

President Donald Trump was hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (September 29, 2025) for critical talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza and developing a U.S. plan on post-war governance in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The White House talks between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump come at a tenuous moment. Israel is increasingly isolated, losing support from many countries that were long its steadfast allies. At home, Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition appears more fragile than ever. And the White House is showing signs of impatience.

India on Tuesday (September 16, 2025) defended Qatar’s sovereignty at the U.N. Human Rights Council. Addressing a session in the UNHRC in Geneva, Government of India’s Permanent Representative Arindam Bagchi referred to the September 9 Israeli bombing of Doha and said India “unequivocally” condemns the attack on Qatar.

“India is deeply concerned about the recent attacks in Doha and their impact on the security situation in the region. We unequivocally condemn the violation of the sovereignty of Qatar. Such actions threaten peace, stability, and security not only in the region but across the world,” said Mr. Bagchi in his statement, which, however, did not name Israel. India’s reiteration of its position on the Israeli strike on Qatar came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he called Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and said, “India condemns the violation of the sovereignty of the brotherly state of Qatar. We support resolution of issues through dialogue and diplomacy, and avoiding escalation.” In a first Indian response, the Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, had noted the “Israeli strikes” on September 9, saying India is “deeply concerned by this development.”

Mr. Bagchi highlighted the importance of sovereignty in international affairs and said, “India firmly believes that differences must be resolved peacefully through dialogue and diplomacy, in full conformity with the principles of the UN Charter and international law. Any escalation must be avoided, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States must be upheld.”

Emergency summit

On September 9, Israel struck targets in Doha which host the negotiating team of Hamas, including Khaled Meshal, top political leader of Hamas. Qatar subsequently intensified international outreach and hosted an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on September 15 which was attended by heads of states and representatives of 57 member-countries of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation). Following the summit, OIC said the attack was an attempt to disrupt the Qatar’s role to bring an end to the war in Gaza. “The leaders valued the vital role that Qatar continues to play in mediation efforts in the region, and emphasised that the aggression against Qatari territory represents a serious escalation and a desperate Israeli attempt to undermine Qatari diplomatic efforts to achieve peace,” said Youssef Al-Dobeay, Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs of the OIC.

Qatar and the United States are on the verge of finalising an enhanced defence cooperation agreement, said top U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio who was on his way to Doha from Tel Aviv on Tuesday (September 16, 2025) after Israel’s attack on Hamas political leaders in Qatar last week drew widespread condemnation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin said he did not did not rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders “wherever they are”, as the heads of Arab and Islamic states held a summit to back Qatar after Israel’s attack last week in the Gulf state.

Editorial | Reckless escalation: On Israel’s attack on Qatar 

Mr. Rubio called for Qatar to continue its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza war, saying there was “a very short window of time in which a deal could happen.”

“If any country in the world can help mediate it, Qatar is the one. They’re the ones that can do it,” Mr. Rubio said while departing Tel Aviv for Doha.

Qatar called the Israeli attack “cowardly and treacherous,” but said it wouldn’t deter it from its role as a mediator, alongside Egypt and the United States.

“We have a close partnership with the Qataris. In fact, we have an enhanced defence cooperation agreement, which we’ve been working on, we’re on the verge of finalising,” Mr. Rubio said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (September 15, 2025) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not inform him in advance about Israel’s attack in Qatar last week.

Mr. Trump’s comments came after an Axios report said that Mr. Netanyahu informed the U.S. president of the strike shortly ahead of time.

The Trump administration has said it was notified only after missiles were in the air, giving Mr. Trump no opportunity to oppose the strike. Axios reported, citing Israeli officials, that the White House knew earlier, even if the timeline to stop the attack would have been tight.

Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike in Qatar on September 9, 2025, escalating its military action in the Middle East. The strike was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could further escalate tensions in a region already on edge.

Mr. Trump has previously said he was not involved in Israel’s decision to strike Qatar.

He was asked on Monday if Mr. Netanyahu spoke to him directly to alert him that Israel would strike Hamas leaders in Qatar. “No, no, they didn’t,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Netanyahu’s office reiterated after the Axios report that the attack was a “wholly independent” Israeli operation.

Washington is an ally of both Israel and Qatar. Doha has been a mediator in trying to arrange a deal for a Gaza ceasefire.

Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 2023 has killed tens of thousands of people, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population, and set off a starvation crisis. Multiple rights experts and scholars say it amounts to genocide.

Israel denies allegations of genocide, calling its actions self-defence after an October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage. Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen during its war in Gaza.

The United Nations Human Rights Council said it would host an urgent debate on Tuesday (September 16, 2025) on Israel’s airstrike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar.

The council said on Monday (September 15, 2025) the debate would be convened after it received two official requests, one from Pakistan on behalf of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the other from Kuwait on behalf of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

The U.N. council said its 10th urgent debate since its creation in 2006 would “discuss the recent military aggression carried out by the State of Israel against the State of Qatar on 9 September 2025’”.

Israel targeted Hamas leaders last week in strikes on the Qatari capital, killing five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer.

The attack drew widespread international condemnation, including from Gulf monarchies allied with the United States, Israel’s main backer.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes up Qatar strike unease with Netanyahu

The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Monday (September 15, 2025) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s vital ally voices unease over air strikes on Qatar that threaten to derail already flailing attempts to reach a Gaza ceasefire.

Mr. Rubio scheduled a solidarity visit a week before a French-led summit at the United Nations to recognise a Palestinian state, a prospect fervently opposed by Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

But talks will instead be more difficult as President Donald Trump’s administration was caught off guard last week when Israel carried out an attack in Qatar against Hamas leaders who were meeting to discuss a new U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

Mr. Trump, for years a fervent defender of MNr*. Netanyahu, on Sunday (September 14, 2025) again voiced support for Qatar, which is home to the largest US air base in the region and has assiduously courted the U.S. President, including by gifting a luxury jet.

“Qatar has been a very great ally. Israel and everyone else, we have to be careful. When we attack people we have to be careful,” Mr. Trump told reporters.

Mr. Rubio, who will later address the press with Mr. Netanyahu, said as he left Washington that “obviously we’re not happy” about the strike but added: “Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next”.

Mr. Rubio said he would speak to Netanyahu about Israeli military plans to seize Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the devastated territory, as well as the government’s talk of annexing parts of the occupied West Bank in hopes of precluding a Palestinian state.

Mr. Rubio said Mr. Trump wants the Gaza war to be “finished with” — which would mean the release of hostages and ensuring Hamas is “no longer a threat”.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 64,871 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

Oil prices rose approximately 2% after Israeli military carried out a “precise strike” targeting senior leadership of the Hamas in Qatar. Brent crude futures rose 1.97% to $67.32 over its previous close at about 3 p.m. GMT (9 p.m. IST) whilst WTI Crude Futures seeped past the mark and was trading 2.12% high at $63.59.  

The upward rally of oil futures is also being fuelled by members of the OPEC+ agreeing Sunday to increase oil production by a smaller than anticipated 137 thousand barrels per day from the present 1.65 mb/d. S&P Global noted in their recent analysis that several market analysts had expected key producers to hold output flat. 

Israel’s latest strike 

The Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli Security Forces in a statement confirmed they carried out a “precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas”. They blamed the outfit for the October 7 attacks and for orchestrating recurrent attacks on the West Asian nation.  

In a statement, official spokesperson of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs Majed Al Ansari condemned the attacks as “cowardly”. “This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar,” he stated.