A single missile has exposed the weakness of Qatar

The skyline of Doha was designed as a glittering emblem of the wealth, safety and power of Qatar. That seemed ever more illusory on Tuesday when, for the second time this year, explosions echoed over the capital.

Israel’s unprecedented strike on the Hamas leadership in Doha exposed the grave miscalculation of Tamim bin Hamad, Qatar’s Emir, and the glaring vulnerability of his country.

Qatar’s ruling al-Thani family had always believed that their country’s immense reserves of natural gas exempted them from the usual rules of statecraft. 

Qatar was so rich that surely everyone would wish to be their friend and benefit from their £390bn sovereign wealth fund.

That would allow Qatar to exert influence out of all proportion to its size by reaching in all directions at once and hosting the bitterest of enemies at the same time. 

So Qatar became a haven for both the Taliban and US Central Command. The American base at Al Udeid, outside Doha, is the hub for US and allied air operations across the Middle East.

When Bashar al-Assad’s regime expelled Hamas from Syria, it was entirely natural that the leadership of the Palestinian terrorist movement should have moved to Doha, in 2012. Not long before, Qatar had hosted an Israeli trade office.

The Qataris believed that they could be everyone’s friend – even while hosting everyone’s worst enemies – because the presence of US forces placed them firmly under America’s security umbrella.

Yet Qatar has now suffered the unique distinction of being attacked by both Iran and Israel. The country was struck by Iranian missiles in June because it hosts the US military, and by Israel on Tuesday because it hosts Hamas. 

Events have shown that not even huge gas wealth or the supposed protection of a superpower can buy permanent immunity from the realities of global politics.

And the chief reality is that a small country which persists in hosting the enemies of far more powerful regional neighbours is bound to be attacked by one or more of them. Qatar has now suffered the blows of two powerful states within three months.

With this latest operation, Benjamin Netanyahu has proved that while the rules may apply to Qatar after all, they definitely do not constrain Israel. 

For years, Israeli officials have denounced Qatar variously as the “club Med for terrorism” while all the time Hamas leaders appeared to live in safety in Doha.

Israel would ruthlessly assassinate Hamas operatives in Lebanon and Syria and, of course, in Gaza, but those in Qatar seemed to enjoy de facto immunity. 

Striking targets inside a US ally, within miles of America’s biggest regional air base, seemed too much even for Israel.

But no longer. Ever since the Hamas atrocities of Oct 7 2023, Mr Netanyahu has demonstrated time and again that everything is different now and Israel feels free to attack its enemies wherever they may be.

Qatar will now demand to know whether Donald Trump’s administration had foreknowledge of the attack and whether America gave tacit or explicit approval.

Either the Americans knew nothing and Israel acted without caring about Washington’s opinion. Or the US knew and approved.

Or the US knew and opposed the operation but Mr Netanyahu went ahead anyway. Every possibility is deeply worrying for Emir Tamim.

The same is true of the other unmistakable signal from Mr Netanyahu. By attacking the Hamas negotiating team, Israel is showing that it cares nothing for the talks designed to end the Gaza war. 

The bloodshed seems set to continue despite every outside effort to bring peace. That rule, at least, remains intact.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]