World
Israel attacks Hamas leaders in Qatar, Trump says he’s ‘very unhappy’ about strike
Netanyahu said the attack was “entirely justified” and was ordered after the Jerusalem attack and the deaths of four Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Qatar on Tuesday, escalating its military action in the Middle East with what the U.S. described as a unilateral attack that does not advance American and Israeli interests, Reuters reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was “very unhappy about every aspect” of the Israeli strike and would be giving a full statement on the issue on Wednesday.
“I’m not thrilled about it,” Trump said as he arrived at a Washington restaurant. “It’s not a good situation but I will say this: We want the hostages back, but we’re not thrilled about the way it went down today.”
While Israel defended the attacks as being justified, Qatar said Israel was treacherous and engaged in “state terrorism.” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said the airstrikes threatened to derail the peace talks Qatar has been mediating between Hamas and Israel.
Trump said he considered hitting Hamas was a worthy goal, but he felt badly that the attack took place in the Gulf Arab state, which is a major non-NATO ally of Washington and where the Palestinian Islamist group has long had its political base.
The attack drew condemnation from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union, and risks derailing Gaza ceasefire talks and Trump’s push to achieve a negotiated end to the nearly two-year-old conflict.
Qatar is a security partner of the United States and host to al-Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East. It has acted as a mediator alongside Egypt in talks between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza, which appears to be increasingly elusive.
Hamas said five of its members had been killed in the attack, including the son of Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya. It said Israel had failed in what Hamas called an attempt to assassinate the group’s ceasefire negotiation team, read the report.
The Trump administration received warning of the attack from the U.S. military just before it took place, Trump said in a statement on social media earlier. He did not say if it was Israel that notified the U.S. military.
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” Trump wrote. “However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”
Hamas political bureau member Suhail al-Hindi told Al Jazeera TV the group’s top leadership had survived the Israeli attack. The airstrike followed Israel warning Palestinians to leave Gaza City, an area once home to about a million people, as it tries to destroy what is left of Hamas, which has been decimated by Israel’s military since October 2023.
Trump said he directed his envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar the attack was coming but Qatar contradicted those comments, saying that reports that it got a heads-up before the attack were false and the phone call from a U.S. official came when blasts were already being heard in the Qatari capital, Doha.
“Qatar reserves the right to respond to this blatant attack and will take all necessary measures to respond,” al-Thani told reporters. Israel killed one member of Qatar’s internal security forces in its attack and injured others, Qatar said.
Trump assured the emir of Qatar in a phone call after the attack that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil.”
The U.S. president also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reported.
Israeli officials told Reuters the strike was aimed at top Hamas leaders including Hayya. Israel is still gathering information on the strike and is yet to determine whether any Hamas officials or leaders were killed, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Two U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. military had been notified by Israel shortly before the strike but there was no coordination with or approval from Washington.
Trump made a high-profile visit to Qatar in May and stayed at a hotel about 2 km (1.24 miles) from Tuesday’s attack site.
The airstrike took place shortly after Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for a shooting on Monday that killed six people at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Netanyahu said the attack was “entirely justified” and was ordered after the Jerusalem attack and the deaths of four Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
“The days are over when terror leaders can enjoy immunity of any kind,” Netanyahu said in a televised address. “I won’t allow that kind of immunity to exist.”
The Israeli operation drew strong negative reactions around the world.
The European Union called it a breach of international law and the United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020, called it “blatant and cowardly”.
Pope Leo expressed unusually forceful concern about the consequences of Israel’s strike in Qatar.
“The entire situation is very serious,” he said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and said Qatar had been playing a very positive role in seeking a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Israel has killed several top Hamas leaders since the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and taking 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen in the course of the Gaza conflict.
On Tuesday, Palestinians living in the ruins of Gaza City were showered with Israeli leaflets telling them to flee ahead of Israel’s effort to obliterate the area and wipe out Hamas, causing panic and confusion.
Israel wants to demilitarise the entire Gaza Strip, home to 2.2 million Palestinians before the war. Many countries around the world have warned Israel’s plan would spell catastrophe for Palestinians.
The plan has also provoked concern inside Israel, where public support for the war has wavered. Israel’s military leadership has warned Netanyahu against expanding the war, according to Israeli officials.
Families of Israeli hostages fear the attack could endanger the captives. Netanyahu says he is acting out of Israel’s interest by moving to finish off Hamas in order to safeguard his country against any more attacks.
Israel has been accused of genocide, including this month by the world’s biggest group of genocide scholars, over its nearly two-year campaign in the Palestinian enclave that has killed more than 64,000 people, according to local authorities.
World
US and Denmark reach deal on Greenland, Trump says
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the deal “permanently and completely” addressed Washington’s national security concerns with respect to the island.
The United States, Denmark and Greenland have entered into an agreement for the US to develop a significant military presence on Greenland, while prohibiting US adversaries from building their own bases on the island, Donald Trump said on Friday.
In a Truth Social post, the US president wrote that no US enemies would be able to make sensitive investments on the island without the approval of the United States and that the agreement had no expiry date, Reuters reported.
“At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
Earlier on Friday, Reuters exclusively reported that the US and Denmark were closing in on a deal that would result in an increased US military presence in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, but would stop well short of Trump’s long-held dream of acquiring the island for the United States.
The US already has nearly total overflight and basing rights in Greenland due to a 1951 treaty.
Trump’s announcement suggests he was nonetheless pleased with the outcome of the negotiations and that he might not revive his territorial claims, at least in the near future. He said, without elaborating, that the US would soon be rolling out a large military presence on the island, which already hosts one Space Force base in its remote northwest.
“This is a dream come true for the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
EXTENT OF AGREEMENT REMAINS UNCLEAR
The Danish prime minister’s office said on Friday that the agreement would strengthen North Atlantic and Arctic security.
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement that the agreement recognized Greenland’s interests and the Arctic island’s place in international cooperation. “This benefits us all,” he said.
Much was unclear as of Friday night, including whether any new US bases would be constructed as a result of the agreement. Trump’s Truth Social posts about negotiations or agreements often lack context or specifics.
Imran Bayoumi, a former Pentagon official now with the Atlantic Council think tank, said it would be new if the US can build bases without the approval of Greenland or Denmark but that largely “it seems that Washington could have achieved a lot of these objectives through diplomacy and dialogue without straining the broader US-NATO relationship.”
It was also unclear how the agreement would be received in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The island’s residents aspire to independence and have bristled at US attempts to assert control.
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the deal “permanently and completely” addressed Washington’s national security concerns with respect to the island.
“Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding area,” he wrote.
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss specific terms, said the deal prohibits non-NATO countries from building a base in Greenland and will allow only the US and its allies to make unspecified “sensitive investments.” The official said the agreement grants the US permanent access, basing and overflight rights, and would continue to apply even if Greenland becomes independent.
World
UN allows Palestinian president to again speak via video after US denies visa
The United Nations General Assembly voted on Thursday to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the annual gathering of world leaders next week via video – for the second year in a row – after the United States again denied him a visa to travel to New York.
The resolution received 152 votes in favor and three votes against, while four countries abstained. It also allows Abbas and any other high-level Palestinian officials to take part in U.N. meetings or conferences via video over the next year if they are prevented from traveling to the United State, Reuters reported.
The US said last year that Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by its decision to deny and revoke visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Washington announced on Wednesday that it had extended the visa bans.
“If the PA wants to be treated as a partner, it must stop subsidizing terror and stop using diplomatic theater as a substitute for serious governance,” Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Tammy Bruce told the assembly before the vote.
Palestinian leaders rejected and condemned the move by the United States, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly.
Without naming specific officials, the US State Department said on Wednesday it would extend visa sanctions against Palestinian officials over actions they took to “internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” including pursuing cases against Israel at international tribunals.
A Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Abbas’ visa had been denied.
Under a 1947 U.N. “headquarters agreement,” the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
World
North Korea’s Kim vows to expand ties with Russia, backs victory in ‘sacred war’
Kim delivered a similar message to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a reply published by KCNA on Sunday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would “expand and deepen” joint work with Russia in a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.
In a reply sent on Monday to Putin’s congratulations for North Korea’s 78th founding anniversary, Kim said Pyongyang’s government had a firm will to broaden cooperation with Russia “in a comprehensive way” based on friendship, mutual assistance, and what he described as the countries’ alliance relations.
Kim also said he was convinced of Russia’s victory in the current “sacred war for defending the security interests of the country and international justice”, language that appeared to refer to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He pledged his “invariable support” for Putin and the Russian people.
The remarks come as Moscow and Pyongyang have drawn markedly closer, with North Korea sending troops to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine in 2024 and deepening military cooperation under a mutual defence pact.
Kim delivered a similar message to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a reply published by KCNA on Sunday, saying North Korea would work with China to further develop their traditional friendship and advance their shared socialist cause.
Both messages were responses to congratulatory letters sent by Putin and Xi on September 9, when North Korea marked the 78th anniversary of its founding.
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