Israeli officials claimed responsibility and said it was
aimed at assassinating the negotiators—but ultimately killed six
people who were not involved with Hamas' team.
The Trump administration said Tuesday it had been aware of
the attack before it was carried out and claimed it had warned Qatari
officials—which Qatar denied.
Analysts suggested the lead-up to the bombing—with the US
securing Hamas and Israeli support for a vague ceasefire proposal that was to
be discussed in Doha—pointed to a scenario in which the US helped orchestrate
the attack and aided "an attack on diplomacy itself," as Center for
International Policy executive vice president Matt Duss said.
Duss, a former foreign policy adviser to US Sen. Bernie
Sanders, warned the assassination attempt could cause long-lasting harm to the
United States' reputation.
"This is an attack in the capital of a major non-NATO
US ally in the midst of US-supported negotiations—against officials who were
originally hosted there at the United States' request," said Duss.
"If it was conducted with the approval of the US, it's
the latest nail in the coffin of President Donald Trump's claim to be a
'peacemaker.' This will have disastrous consequences for future peace efforts,
and for US security."
The Trump administration's response to the attack was
ambiguous, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying the bombing did
not "advance Israel or America's goals" but adding that
"eliminating Hamas... is a worthy goal."
The attack, said Duss, makes clear that Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to see Israel's accelerating campaign of
ethnic cleansing in Gaza through to the end," and has no intention of
reaching a ceasefire deal.
Gregg Carlstrom of The Economist said that as
far as countries in the Gulf region are concerned, the question of whether
Trump knew about the attack ahead of time "is somewhat irrelevant."
"If yes, he approved a strike on a country under an American security
guarantee," said Carlstrom. "If no, he couldn't prevent said strike.
Either way, the question for Gulf leaders is the same, what is the value of
American security guarantees?"
Condemnation of the attacks poured in from global
leaders including United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, who said
Israel's actions were "a clear violation of Qatar's sovereignty and
territorial integrity" and accused Israeli officials of
"destroying" efforts for a permanent ceasefire.
Other countries including Algeria, Jordan, and Egypt also
decried the attack on Qatar's "sovereignty" and accused Israel of
undermining the talks.
The peace
group CodePink asserted, "The US is fully aware of Israel's intentions and
actively collaborates with it" to reach the "true objective" of
"the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians."
"This
collaboration is evidenced by the blatant plan to lure ceasefire negotiators
into a single location under the pretense of peace talks, only to attempt to
assassinate them," said CodePink.
"This
is a complete rejection of a diplomatic solution—something Israel has no
intention of reaching. This attack on foreign soil also serves as a direct
challenge to Qatar, proving that neither its borders, laws, nor financial
influence can deter Israeli strikes."
The assassination attempt proves, said the group, "Peace
negotiations are essentially antithetical to Israel and a trap for more
assassinations and attacks on sovereign nations."
"It is time world leaders take a principled stand in
defense of the people of Gaza," said the group. "The more the
international community fails to hold Israel accountable, the more brazen it
becomes in their war crimes."
