How Qatar Is Responding to Israel’s Sept. 9 Attack

On September 9, the Israeli Air Force bombed a residential neighborhood in Doha, Qatar, to remove the Supreme Political Command in Hamas. According to Hamas, five members were killed, but not their main leaders. Doha, the main ally of the United States, condemned the power of the attack. Even US president Donald Trump expressed his regret for the strike on the social truth: “I see Qatar as a strong ally and a friend of the United States, and I feel heavily on the attack sites.”

Will Doha continue to play a role in the mediation between Hamas and Israel? Does Qatar still believe that its interests lie in its broader role in peace negotiations all over the world? I spoke with Majid Al Zari at the Concordia summit on Monday, September 22nd, on the sidelines of the eighties of the eighties of the United Nations. Ansari is a advisor to the Prime Minister of Qatar and the official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On September 9, the Israeli Air Force bombed a residential neighborhood in Doha, Qatar, to remove the Supreme Political Command in Hamas. According to Hamas, five members were killed, but not their main leaders. Doha, the main ally of the United States, condemned the power of the attack. Even US President Donald Trump expressed his regret for the strike on the social truth: “I see Qatar as a strong ally and a friend of the United States, and I feel heavily on the attack sites.”

Will Doha continue to play a role in the mediation between Hamas and Israel? Does Qatar still believe that its interests lie in its broader role in peace negotiations all over the world? I spoke with Majid Al Zari at the Concordia summit on Monday, September 22nd, on the sidelines of the eighties of the eighties of the United Nations. Ansari is a advisor to the Prime Minister of Qatar and the official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The following here is an intense version and editing.

Ravi Agrawal: Let’s start with the Israeli leadership attack in Doha on September 9. There are reports that your prime minister has called for an apology from Israel. Is this correct?

Majid Al Zari: The issue here is not the one who will issue an apology. The issue is that there is a serious attack on sovereignty. Attack on the concept of mediation. An attack on peace, which occurred at a time when my country was mediating in 12 different regions, including between Hamas and Israel.

The attack took place in a residential area of ​​5,000 people and a number of schools. Children – including American children – had a shelter in place. At the time of the attack, the neighborhood had 13 different embassies working from the same neighborhood. This was not an isolated incident. It is not an assassination from the dissident. It is not an attack inside a conflict zone.

It was an attack on the concept of mediation between opponents; The concept of conflict solution through peaceful means; The concept of international diplomacy.

Ra: What does this do for Qatar’s relations with Israel now? Are they recovered?

what: This is the typical transformation of the entire region. After the Oslo agreements, Qatar was one of the first countries that started to involve Israel in the region. At that stage, we saw a chance of peace. We have seen an opportunity for our children and children of our children to live in a neighborhood that is not synonymous with conflict. We have seen an opportunity for the Palestinian people to finally realize a state-the Arab-Israeli conflict to be resolved by diplomatic means. Unfortunately, this did not happen and the situation gets worse every day. Israel has not been seen as a direct threat to any country of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Ra: I just used the past time there. You say that Israel, now, is a threat?

what: naturally. I mean, if one of your citizens was killed by an air strike by any country, and if that country does so unilaterally even behind the emergence of their intelligence agencies, to attack a residential neighborhood, we do not have the right to look at that country as a threat to national security?

If you read the Gulf Cooperation Council statement that came out of the meeting that occurred on the sidelines of the Arab -Islamic Summit, with the participation of 57 countries in Doha, this attack endangers every agreement in the region.

Ra: Qatar is a close ally of the United States. There are reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had informed US President Donald Trump of an early attack. Do you believe these reports, and if so, what does this mean for the relationship of Washington?

what: The first invitation obtained His Highness after the attack by Trump, who personally informed him that he had not been consulted, and not informed, and said that the United States would confirm his leadership, through his leadership, that such an attack did not happen again.

This is the unilateral work of Netanyahu. We are working closely with the United States to ensure that this does not happen again.

Here in New York, there will be direct meetings with President Trump to talk about the dangers of unlimited leadership to take such a single decision in our region, throw stability and the prosperity of the Middle East – especially the Gulf Cooperation Council – in chaos.

Ra: She looks very angry at Israel. I just said that they had “unprotected leadership”. Do you think that the United States has influence and the ability to use this leverage to change Israel’s actions in the region?

what: Well, in the same week that Qatar was bombing, seven countries in the region were bombed by Israeli air strikes. The level of the regional deviation of this war has reached a turning point.

We are now in a stage where Prime Minister Netanyahu decides to bomb Damascus, decided to southern Lebanon, and decided to send its forces to southern Syria, bomb Yemen, and now the bombing of Qatar, with complete impunity.

But if this means that you have no respect at all for international law or sovereignty of other countries, the international community must intervene. That is why we went immediately to [U.N.] The Security Council and the Human Rights Council in Geneva and are working closely with the Islamic Organization [Cooperation] And with the Arab League –

Ra: I must ask: Is any of this issue? Here we are sitting in New York on the eighties of the United Nations, and everyone asks: Are the rules important?

what: This is the biggest danger in today’s world, Ravi, and put your finger on the most important thing here. Will the international system dies under the pressure of leaders who decide that they are not interested in the rules? They do not care about peace. They do not care about the world -based system to prevent us from running towards a third world war.

Our goal is now to push for the protection of the international system. If you ask the people of the world in general, there is a lot of frustration that the international community is unable to do anything about countless conflicts that only continue to accumulate. But what is the alternative? Is it an international system that relies on power that gives any regional domination the right to do everything he wants in his region? Well, if this happens, we are all in danger.

Ra: Allow me to ask you a broader question. It is amazed that not everyone knows the role that Qatar plays over the past few decades. It has mediated many conflicts around the world. I understand that Doha did that, partly because it is a noble invitation, but also because it wants to be indispensable for countries around the world as part of a way to protect its interests. Now, this vision was born in an era that the rules were really important, when there was a lesser feeling of impunity to break the rules. If we agree that we are in an era that is somewhat similar to the law of the forest where it may be correct, is the Qatari model no longer working?

what: You know, Ravi, at the time we were attacked [Sept. 9]We used to conduct 12 different mediations. This is what Qatar is, this is what we believe in, and it will take more than just a bullying to push this away from people.

Ra: But again, I will remind you, in the past few months, that Iran is sending pictures of you to obtain an American military base, Al Udeid, which America has asked you to install. You have had a lot of general accusations about the fact that you originally, as you know, have interceded with the Taliban and the United States, and now between Hamas, Israel and the United States, and you are paying the costs of that. You are being attacked.

what: Peace is not cheap. Commitment to peace is not a luxury. The fact that we were attacking only the importance of the mediator and peace in the world today. The truth is that there are those around the world who find these tasks threatening their agendas. This is the main reason that makes us need more peaceful and all over the world today.

As you know, one of the main reasons we have we have like this is that many countries around the world have the ability to be easy peace. But they do not. They do not do political considerations internally. They do not do it because they are risks. But unless we have other countries in solidarity with the mediators, this will always be a problem because it is easy to allocate one broker when it does not fit your agenda and when you do not want a peace deal.

We do not do that alone. We work with our European counterparts; We sign agreements with countries on these issues in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America. We are working with partners to see how we can build these federations from countries that want to work for peace. The danger is always there. We are proud that we are at this danger.

You cannot consider the fact that my generation and my children live in peace and prosperity and hope that the rest of the world will maintain this peace and prosperity for our children. We have to do everything we can do, and yes, sometimes we have to risk.