President Donald Trump has issued an executive order in which the United States pledges to guarantee Qatar’s security – including retaliatory military action – if the country were to come under attack again, in the wake of Israel’s unprecedented air strikes on the country last month that drew regional and global outrage.
Israel said that the attack targeted Hamas leaders who were in the capital, Doha, discussing a US ceasefire proposal for Gaza under Qatari auspices. It killed several members of the Palestinian group’s team, but not the leaders, as well as a Qatari security officer.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologised to Qatar for the killing of its citizen. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani received the apology on Monday in a joint call from Trump and Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House.
In his latest executive order, Trump said the US and Qatar are “bound together by close cooperation, shared interests, and the close relationship between our armed forces”.
The US president added that Qatar was “a steadfast ally in pursuit of peace, stability and prosperity” and had supported Washington in mediating regional and global conflicts.
After the Israeli strikes in Doha on September 9, Washington tried to repair the damage done to diplomatic relations with Qatar while also showing its continued ironclad support for its ally Israel. The Gulf nation had called Israel’s actions “cowardly and treacherous”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Qatar on September 16 for talks, a week after the attack and one day after Arab and Islamic leaders had expressed solidarity with Qatar during an emergency summit in Doha.
Credit: aljazeera.com
