ISTANBUL

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani strongly condemned Israel’s attack Tuesday on the Palestinian group Hamas’ leadership in Doha, describing it as “treacherous” and an act that “can only be defined as state terrorism.”​​​​​​​

Addressing a press conference in the Qatari capital, Al Thani said the attack occurred during a meeting of Hamas leaders discussing the latest US proposal on a Gaza ceasefire, underscoring that “Israel is working to sabotage every chance for peace.”

He affirmed that Doha “will not tolerate any violation of its sovereignty and reserves the right to respond to this blatant attack.”

“What (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is practicing is state terrorism aimed at destabilizing the region. He earlier said he would reshape the Middle East. Will he reshape the Gulf as well?”

Al Thani said Qatar was notified of the Israeli strike 10 minutes after the attack began. The White House earlier said that the US administration had warned Qatar of the impending attack.

It is considered the first Israeli attack against a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member state.

“This terrorism is practiced by someone like Netanyahu in the context of systematic policies and continuous attempts to destabilize regional security,” Al Thani told reporters.

“The message is clear: there is a rogue player in this region engaging in ongoing political thuggery and violating the sovereignty of states,” he added.

He noted that the attack occurred while Qatar was hosting indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel under US and Egyptian mediation.

“We are talking about a mediator state hosting official, declared negotiations---then rockets are fired at the negotiating delegation,” he said.

“By what logic or moral standard can this be accepted? It can only be described as outright treachery.”

Qatar, he affirmed, “will not tolerate violations of its sovereignty or territorial integrity and will act firmly against reckless breaches that endanger its security.”

Al Thani announced that beginning Wednesday, Doha would launch “a comprehensive review of policies and procedures to ensure that such acts are deterred and not repeated.”

On Gaza ceasefire efforts, he said that in recent days, intensive negotiations took place at the request of the US side to discuss the latest paper it presented.

“There are no ongoing talks after today’s attack. Nothing remains on the table,” he added.

Still, he stressed that Qatar’s mediation role would continue, noting that “stability in the region will not be achieved through wars but through diplomacy.”

Al Thani also revealed that Israel used weapons undetected by Qatari radar systems and said Doha has held consultations with “friendly and brotherly states” to coordinate a response to the attack.