Israel’s Qatarstrophic error
Its extra-territorial campaign against terrorists has to have limits
After the massacres of October 7th 2023, Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, promised to hunt down the leaders of Hamas “wherever they are”. Israel pursued them in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and Syria. But Qatar, where Hamas’s grandees have long enjoyed a comfy exile, seemed off-limits. On September 9th that changed. Israeli warplanes bombed a villa there that was said to be hosting Hamas officials. Six people were killed, though it is uncertain if any Hamas leaders were among them. The strikes may have had tacit American approval. They are a grave error, making it harder to end the Gaza war, harming America’s position in the Gulf and undermining the Abraham accords, which offer the region a better future.
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