For decades, Qatar has held itself out as a U.S. ally while simultaneously acting as a patron of Hamas, a U.S. government-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. Qatar housed Hamas’s leadership, financed its operations, and used the Al Jazeera network, the mouthpiece of the Qatari government, to spin Hamas’s terrorism as “resistance” or a “struggle for freedom.” Qatar’s doublespeak and double-dealing have finally come to an end.
Predictably, Arab media and official statements rushed to frame Qatar as a “victim” of Israeli aggression. Talking heads lamented: how could Israel dare to strike inside the borders of Qatar, which had been “helping” to secure the release of Israeli hostages? The irony is unbearable. Just one day before the strike, Al Jazeera celebrated a terrorist attack in Jerusalem on civilians waiting at a bus stop. Hamas leaders in Doha praised the terrorist attack, claimed responsibility, and called for more carnage. When Hamas terrorists in Gaza carried out the horrific October 7 attack on Israel, Al Jazeera broadcast Hamas leaders in Doha celebrating and praying as a group while images of Hamas terrorists rampaging and massacring Israeli civilians played on a nearby television.
Qatar should not be surprised that the terrorists it hosted on its soil brought Israeli fire within its borders. A sovereign state cannot be a patron to a terrorist organization while expecting immunity from the consequences. Because Qatar enabled Hamas to attack the sovereign state of Israel, it was inevitable that Israel would respond.
This was not Qatar’s first humiliation in 2025. Earlier this year, Iranian forces struck Doha as a warning to Gulf monarchies about aligning too closely with Washington and Tel Aviv. Now, Israel has delivered its own message. It is rare for a single country to be targeted by both Iran and Israel in the same year. The symbolism is conspicuous. Qatar’s long-standing duplicitous games of funding Hamas while hosting U.S. bases, appeasing Iran while courting Washington, and empowering the Muslim Brotherhood while seeking alliances with its Gulf Arab neighbors have not protected Qatar but have instead made Qatar itself a target for all these parties. As the famous Arab proverb warns: “whoever tries to sit on two chairs at once eventually falls between them.”
For Israel, this strike was more than just retaliation; it was a declaration of a new deterrence doctrine. Hamas leaders once believed they were untouchable under Doha’s protection. Their speeches and plans were crafted in luxury hotels, broadcast to millions through Qatar’s media empire, and shielded by the emirate’s diplomatic clout. By breaking that illusion of safety, Israel has altered the rules of the game. Now, no sanctuary is guaranteed, not even in the glittering towers of Doha. Turkey, Lebanon, and even European capitals that quietly support Islamist networks must face the new reality. Israel has shown it is ready to go after Hamas not only in Gaza or the West Bank, but anywhere the group plans its next attack.
Qatar’s claim to be a mediator in the Israel-Hamas conflict now lies in ruins. Mediation only holds credibility when the mediator is impartial or at least not actively fueling one side. Qatar’s financial pipelines to Hamas and its ideological promotion of Islamist narratives disqualify it from that role. Every “ceasefire deal” in Gaza over the past two years that Qatar championed was less about achieving peace and more about throwing Hamas a lifeline.
The Middle East is increasingly shaped by a conflict between actors committed to stability and actors invested in perpetual conflict. Qatar has consistently sided with the latter. The Arab League’s empty rhetoric about disarming Hamas sounds just as hollow. For years, Arab governments tolerated Doha’s dual strategy because it spared them the costs of confronting Hamas directly. That patience is no longer sustainable. If Israel’s strike proves anything, it is that the price of tolerating terrorism on your soil (or your neighbor’s soil) is heavy.
Now, Qatar faces a tough choice between aligning with good or evil. Qatar can continue its dalliance with Hamas, Iran, and other terrorists, but it cannot escape the consequences of doing so. Before it is too late, Qatar should decisively choose between the path of constructive statehood and the path of terrorism.
The strike in Doha is more than just a message from Israel; its a warning for the region. The Middle East is at an inflection point. The four trends that are already shaping the region’s future are already visible: the decline of traditional Arab centers of power, the rise of non-state armed actors taking on political roles, the erosion of old alliances, and the growing willingness of states like Israel to act unilaterally when their survival is at stake. Qatar’s situation now reflects all four trends.
Sovereignty cannot be a shield for states that enable terrorism. Mediation cannot be a cover for financing extremist groups. And duplicity cannot replace responsible statecraft. By targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar, Israel has redrawn the map of accountability in the Middle East. Qatar now faces a choice: will it side with the forces of stability, peace, and responsibility, or will it cling to the mirage of Islamist patronage and perpetual conflict? The world is watching.
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