Qatar denies US warning before Israel strike

Qatar dismissed US claims that it was alerted in advance of Israel’s strike on Hamas negotiators in Doha, saying the American call came only after explosions had begun.

The Israeli raid on a residential district in Doha killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer, according to the group and Doha’s Interior Ministry, though Hamas confirmed its senior leadership survived.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had told reporters that President Donald Trump instructed Envoy Steve Witkoff to notify Qatari officials before the operation. She called the strike inside “a sovereign nation and close ally” counterproductive, while framing Hamas as a legitimate target.

In a statement, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari rejected that account as “completely false,” stressing that no prior warning was received.

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced the formation of a legal team to prepare a response to the Israeli strike, stressing that Doha would not tolerate violations of its sovereignty and reserves the right to act.

In his address, Al Thani accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “leading the region to an irreparable situation,”
noting that mediation efforts were suspended after the attack.