‘Unhappy about every aspect’: Trump says he is ‘not thrilled’ about Israeli strike in Qatar

The Israeli strike has been widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could further trigger tensions in a region which has remained on edge.

By: Express Web Desk

September 10, 2025 07:17 AM IST

3 min read

Smoke rises from an explosion, allegedly caused by an Israeli strike, in Doha, Qatar. (AP)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the decision to strike Hamas militants in Qatar’s capital Doha was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not by the Republican leader, who added that the attack was “unfortunate” and it doesn’t advance the goals of Israel or America.

Trump told reporters that he was “not thrilled” by Tel Aviv’s strike in which it attempted to kill the political leaders of Palestinian group Hamas. The Israeli strike has been widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could further trigger tensions in a region which has remained on edge.

Trump said he will give a detailed statement regarding the Israeli strike in Qatar on Wednesday, but added that he was very unhappy about the strike. “I’m not thrilled about it. 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,” the US president said as he arrived at a Washington restaurant.

Israel defended the strike and the Israeli Defense Forces said it carried out a strike in Doha “targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organisation”. However, Qatar accused Tel Aviv of treachery and said the country engaged in “state terrorism”.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said the strikes threatened to derail the ceasefire talks Doha has been trying to mediate between Israel and Gaza.

Earlier, in a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “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 claimed that he had informed US envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar about the attack but said it was too late. However, contradicting the claims made by the US president, Qatar said that reports suggesting it was alerted ahead of the strike are fabricated and a phone call from a US official came when blasts were already being heard in Doha.

(with inputs from Reuters)

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