Netanyahu defends ‘justified’ Qatar strike, says Doha is ‘tied to Hamas,’ could apply much more pressure if it wanted to

Asked by The Times of Israel about whether he still sees Qatar as a mediator in indirect talks with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that “if Qatar wanted, it could easily apply much harder pressure, which would help us free all of our hostages in the first months of the war.”

“It is tied to Hamas,” he charges. “It strengthens Hamas. It hosts Hamas. It funds Hamas. It has much stronger levers, and it chose not to do that.”

As such, he says, the strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar “was entirely justified.”

He says the Qatari channel Al Jazeera in Arabic is “a hell of antisemitism, antizionism, a hell for many years, and in recent years, one of anti-Americanism.”

The ruling family has invested in this effort for years, Netanyahu says.

“I never thought they were pro-Israel or neutral.”

“There was an attempt to use them in a partial manner” during the war, Netanyahu continues, without mentioning his working with Qatar to send millions of dollars into Gaza every month.

“The hypocrisy of those who condemn Israel is so obvious,” says Netanyahu of the ongoing criticism over the strike against Hamas leaders in Doha last week.

He declines to give an update on whether any Hamas leaders were killed: “We’re still checking it out. It’s not yet fully conclusive. We’re waiting to see it.”