Trump hosts Qatar’s PM for dinner after Israeli attack on Doha

Qatar’s prime minister visited the White House on Friday and had dinner with US President Donald Trump, days after Israel attacked Hamas officials in Doha.

Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah al-Muftah, said on X.

The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.

The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.

Israel’s strike on Hamas in Doha was widely condemned around the world as an act that could further escalate tensions in a region already on edge.

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned the attack in Qatar’s capital Doha but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel’s ally the United States.

Trump said on Tuesday Israel’s decision to strike Qatar was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not by the Republican leader who added that a unilateral attack on Qatar does not serve American or Israeli interests. Trump has said he was not happy about the strike.

Washington also counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a mediator in trying to arrange a deal for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and for a plan on a post-conflict Gaza.

Trump had vowed to end Israel’s war on Gaza when he took office in January but that objective has remained elusive. His term began with a ceasefire that lasted two months. That ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed 400 Palestinians on March 18.

In recent weeks, images of starving Palestinians in Gaza, including children, have shocked the world and fueled criticism of Israel.

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 assess the assault amounts to genocide.

Israel calls its actions self-defense after the October 2023 Hamas attack in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage. Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen in the course of its war in Gaza.