Israel-Qatar Tensions Escalate After Israel Kills Al Jazeera Journalists
The Israeli attack on Sunday, near a hospital in Gaza City, killed five Al Jazeera journalists, the network reported: the correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh; the photographers Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa; and an assistant, Mohammed Noufal. The network had previously said four of its people died in the attack. Gaza officials said that in addition to the journalists, two others were also killed.
The Israeli military had accused Mr. al-Sharif of being a Hamas fighter — an allegation that he and the network had rejected — and pointedly identified Al Jazeera as 'Qatari.' The government of Qatar responded with a strong condemnation.
'The deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel in the Gaza Strip reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination,' Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, said on Monday, in criticizing the international community's inability 'to stop this tragedy.'
The attack underlined Israel's complex relationship with Qatar, which Israeli leadership relies on as a back channel to Hamas, while simultaneously regarding the country with suspicion.
The rulers of Qatar — a Persian Gulf peninsula with fewer than 400,000 citizens — have used its fossil fuel wealth to achieve global prominence. Qatar is home to a U.S. military base, a major international airline, one of the world's largest sports broadcasters and the Al Jazeera news network.
It has also served as a mediator between Hamas and governments, like those of Israel and the United States, that do not deal directly with the Palestinian armed group.
Qatar hosts the political office of Hamas, which led the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, setting off the current war, and has contributed significant financial aid to Gaza over the years, with the knowledge and support of the Israeli government.
Israel 'criticizes Qatar, and on the other hand, quietly cooperates with Qatar on all kinds of things,' said Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel. 'When Israelis bash Qatar, I remind them first look at what you did, and then go and blame the Qataris.'
Qatar has been a major mediator in failed talks to end the war in Gaza. At the same time, the country has increasingly become a punching bag for right-wing Israeli politicians and commentators who paint it as an insidious enemy.
Last week, Yair Netanyahu, an Israeli podcaster and son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused Qatar of funding a rise in antisemitism globally.
'Every Jew around the world is in grave danger because of the decades-long vilification of Jews and the Jewish state by Qatar,' he said, without elaborating.
Yaacov Bardugo, a far-right commentator considered close to the Israeli prime minister, has called for killing 'all the senior Hamas figures' in Qatar.
'I don't think we should be afraid of harming Qatar physically,' Mr. Bardugo said last week on an Israeli radio station.
Peace talks have been possible because Qatari and Israeli officials 'have been able to compartmentalize, to some extent,' said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow for the Middle East at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. 'But with each provocation it maybe becomes harder — especially as the mediation continues to show no sign of being able to address the continuing devastation of Gaza.'
Israel has long had an antagonistic relationship with Al Jazeera that has worsened during the war. Last year, it forced the network to shut down its operations in the West Bank.
While other major media outlets have been blocked from entering Gaza, Al Jazeera has had numerous journalists there, providing a steady stream of stories and images of the harrowing conditions for civilians with Israel's bombardment and aid restrictions that have created widespread hunger and desperation.
The Israeli military had targeted other Al Jazeera correspondents before Mr. al-Sharif, claiming they were members of Hamas's military wing — accusations that the network and its journalists denied. Last summer, it killed Ismail al-Ghoul in an airstrike that also took the life of another reporter. In March, an Israeli strike killed another Al Jazeera journalist, Hussam Shabat.
The strike on Mr. al-Sharif came after Israel's security cabinet on Friday voted to intensify its military operations in the area and to take over Gaza City. Al Jazeera called the strike 'a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza.'
Mourners buried the journalists on Monday.
The United Nations human rights office condemned the killing as a grave breach of international law, adding that at least 242 Palestinian journalists had been killed in Gaza since the war began.
Despite the rising tensions, Qatar is expected to continue mediating Israel-Hamas talks.
Mr. Guzansky said that being a mediator serves Qatar's interests by highlighting the tiny country's importance to international allies, chief among them the United States.
Nick Cumming-Bruce contributed reporting from Geneva.
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