Netanyahu says Israel has ‘no plan’ to strike Qatar again, in readout of phone call with Qatari PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Adbulrahman Al Thani that Israel “has no plan” to strike again in his country, according to the Israeli readout of the call.

“Mr. Prime Minister, I want you to know that Israel regrets that one of your citizens was killed in our strike,” says Netanyahu, according to his office.

The call was arranged by US President Donald Trump, and took place while Netanyahu was in the White House.

“I want to assure you that Israel was targeting Hamas, not Qataris,” he continues, adding that “Israel has no plan to violate your sovereignty again in the future, and I have made that commitment to the president.”

Netanyahu tells Al Thani that he knows “your leadership has grievances against Israel and Israel has grievances against Qatar, from support for the Muslim Brotherhood to how Israel is portrayed on Al Jazeera to support for anti Israel sentiment on collage campuses.”

He adds that he welcomes Trump’s initiative of establishing a trilateral forum to address “outstanding grievances.”