JERUSALEM, Sep 17: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu today blasted Qatar, blasted calling all its peace attempts insincere, and accusing it of being a supporter of Hamas.
“If Qatar wanted, it could easily have applied much harder pressure, which would help us free all of our hostages in the first months of the war,” he told Times of Israel.
Accusing Doha of being directly tied to the group, he remarked, “It strengthens Hamas. It hosts Hamas. It funds Hamas. It has much stronger levers, and it chose not to do that.”
As such, he called the Doha attack – blasted by the international community – “entirely justified.”
“There was an attempt to use them partially” during the war, Netanyahu continued, without mentioning he had worked with Qatar to send millions of dollars into Gaza every month in the years before the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror onslaught that started the war.
He declined to give an update on whether any of the targeted Hamas leaders were killed in the September 9 attack, which is largely considered a military failure.
“We’re still checking it out. It’s not yet fully conclusive. We’re waiting to see it.”
He also declined to comment on shouted questions about his own advisors’ connections to Qatar – as many are under investigation for allegedly receiving money from Doha -to push a public relations campaign to portray the Gulf state in a positive light after the Hamas massacre in Israel.
The attack – initially intended to be a ground operation to be carried out by Mossad – was turned into a missile strike after the intelligence wing’s chief David Ben-Gurion refused the order, deeming it tactically unviable.
The missile strike was overall considered a failure by both the IDF as well as external observers, as it has not manage to eliminate any of the intended targets. Obscure reports only lend more credence to the claim, as the full extent of the damage is yet to be fully verified.
The Israeli premier nonetheless had called the operation a partial success, while acknowledging it’s military failure, stating that it demonstrated the country’s will when it came to combatting terror, as it would kill them no matter where they go.
(UNI )
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