Qatar’s prime minister will meet top US officials on Friday and is expected to discuss Gaza ceasefire-hostage talks, the Israeli attack on Hamas’s top brass in Doha on Tuesday and a possible new defense deal with Washington, in an indication that the US seeks to signal a boost in its ties with Qatar following the attack.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, a key mediator in the ceasefire talks, will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House in Washington, the US State Department said late on Thursday.
Al-Thani was also expected to meet US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been overseeing the Gaza talks for Washington, Politico and Axios reported.
An unnamed source “close to the president’s national security team,” told Politico that the Tuesday bombing in Doha may have been an intentional move to hinder the talks.
“Every time they’re making progress, it seems like he bombs someone,” the source was quoted as saying. “That’s why the president and his aides are so frustrated with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”
Trump voiced rare criticism of Israel over the strike, saying he was “not happy” with it and that it served neither US nor Israeli interests, though he added that eliminating Hamas was a “worthy goal.” Israel’s security establishment is increasingly convinced the strike failed to kill its targets, according to Hebrew media.
Earlier this week, Trump said he had instructed his aides to advance a new security agreement with Qatar, though the country already has the status of Major Non-NATO Ally. A new deal could perhaps see the sale of additional weapons or the dispatch of additional US troops to Qatar, Channel 12 reported.
Qatar has long harbored Hamas’s top leaders, and for years sent millions of dollars monthly to the terror group in Gaza, with Netanyahu’s consent, until the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the Gaza war.
Current and former top aides to Netanyahu are under investigation for alleged criminal ties to the Gulf nation.