ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump expressed hope Thursday that Israel’s attack this week on Hamas leaders in Qatar won’t affect negotiations between the Palestinian group and Israel on a hostage deal.

Asked about how the attack in the capital Doha would affect the potential ceasefire and prisoner exchange process in Gaza during a press briefing on his way to New York City, Trump said that “hopefully it won't affect it at all. We want the (Israeli) hostages out, and we want them out soon. Hopefully it won't affect them.''

Senior US administration officials said in an exclusive Wall Street Journal report that Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that the decision to target political leaders of Hamas wasn’t wise and that he “was angry to learn about the attack as it was occurring from the US military—rather than from Israel—and that it struck the territory of another US ally that was mediating negotiations on ending the Gaza war.”

Netanyahu's response was that he had a brief window to launch the strikes and took the opportunity.

Qatar, along with the US and Egypt, has been playing a central role in efforts to mediate an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 64,600 Palestinians since October 2023.