Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologised to Qatar for the killing of a Qatari citizen during an unprecedented Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha this month, which drew global condemnation.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani received the apology on Monday in a joint call from United States President Donald Trump and Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House.
“As a first step, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,” a White House statement said.
“He further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future.”
At least five lower-ranking Hamas members and a Qatari security official were killed in the September 9 attack, which targeted senior Hamas leaders involved in negotiating a US-backed ceasefire. Hamas’s top leaders survived the assassination attempt.
It was the first Israeli attack on Qatar, a key mediator in ceasefire efforts and host of the US military’s largest base in the Middle East, Al Udeid.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the strike as a “flagrant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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