Qatari officials “reacted with shock and a sense of betrayal” in response to the Israeli attempt to assassinate Hamas negotiators by air strike on Sept. 9, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote in an article posted about 10 hours later. The Israeli strike “seemed likely to destroy Qatar’s role as a mediator in the conflict—eliminating the most reliable conduit to pass messages to Hamas leaders in Gaza,” Ignatius continued. “Qatari sources told me that Israel and the United States promised them last month that Hamas officials would not be targeted on their territory. This assurance proved empty. Qatar now has the distinction of having been attacked by both Israel and Iran in the convulsive regional war that began Oct. 7, 2023….”
An Israeli official detailed to Ignatius the Trump proposal that the Hamas leaders had convened to discuss. “On day one, Hamas would release all 48 hostages, 20 alive and 28 corpses. Israel would withdraw from all of Gaza and begin to release about 1,000 Palestinians. On day two, Trump would personally take charge of negotiations for a political transition and reconstruction in Gaza.” According to an Arab source, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had shared the proposal with the Hamas leaders on Sept. 8, and they had decided to meet on Tuesday, Sept. 9 to discuss it. “Israel, presumably knowing the group had gathered in Doha, chose to attack,” Ignatius wrote.
