When the Israeli fighter aircraft fired missiles into a residential mixture in Doha 9. September, they focused on Hamas officials in the middle of gentle conversations about the potential end of the Gaza War. The strike was killed by a security officer Katari and the son of senior Hamas character Khalil al-hayya-but missed his intended goals.
However, not only diplomatic outrage, but also a surprising shift in the peace process followed. During 20 days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah and President Donald Trump stood side by side in the White House and declared the support of a new framework that stopped almost two years of devastating conflict.
Trump described it with a typical flourishing: “A big, big day, a beautiful day, potentially one of the big days ever in civilization.” Netanyahu, more limited, insisted that the proposal “achieves our war goals”.
Why was the strike in Doha considered a turning point?
The rocket attack was considered a commander throughout the region. Qatar, a long -term mediator in the Gaza conflict and a home for several Hamas leaders, was outraged. Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani condemned Israeli “barbaric action”, warned, “we have reached a decisive moment when there must be an answer from the whole region.”
Qatari officials accused Israel of sabotage of negotiations and suspended their mediation role. The US ambassadors rushed to assure the regional allies that Washington was not in operation.
It is irony that the unsuccessful strike changed the political number. As one White House’s initiate noted, Israel was angry with the United States and the Arab Government at the same time and provided Washington’s new leverage to the pressure of Netanyahu.
How did Trump and Kushner move to Salvage Talks?
Days after the strike from Doho saw frenetic diplomacy. Steve Witkoff, an American envoy in the Middle East, and Jared Kushner – returned to their earlier role as a negotiator – tried to rebuild confidence. Behind the closed doors, Arab and Muslim states have developed conditions for peace, including the end of Israeli annexation and forced displacement in Gaza.
At the time the world leaders gathered in New York at the UN General Assembly on September 23, Trump and Witkoff presented a plan that looked like it included many of these requirements. Hamas was told that he had to “remove” their weapons, the hostages would be released, Israeli forces would withdraw in the stages, and the amnesty would be offered to Hamas fighters.
Arab officials received the plan carefully, but positively. Some have pressed the Americans to solve two states-Trump and Witkoff stood up. Others asked how Israel could believe that they follow.
Donald Trump assured them, “Netanyahu can handle.”
What role did Netanyah played in the formation of the proposal?
Behind the scenes, Netanyahu tried to reduce obligations. At the marathon meetings with American ambassadors in New York, he tried to get rid of references to Palestinian statehood, weakened the promises of the Israeli withdrawal, and maintained the Palestinian authority outside the administration of Gaza.
Yet September 29 appeared in the White House with Trump to support the framework. He was pushed in advance into a degrading concession: a personal apology to Qatar. “I even apologize sometimes,” Trump told him, and insisted that Netanyahu had to do the same. The Israeli leader who held the receiver in an oval office read his written statement about Sheikh Muhammed.
Did Hamas accept the plan?
Hamas offered a partial concession and announced that it would release all Israeli hostages and bodies of the dead. However, the solution of the most partial demand – the handover of weapons was avoided. Trump set a deadline at 6 pm on Sunday and warned: “Unless this last chance is reached, all hell like no one before, will break out against Hamas.”
Whether Hamas’s movement is sufficient is unclear. “There are several key areas we want to cover,” said Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and criticized the American text as different from the former Arab consensus.
Did the US achieve its most important diplomatic success?
“Whether the Peace Agreement turns out to be effective, the act of unifying the Arab and Muslim nations around the plan, which was also supported by Israel, was perhaps the most successful act of diplomacy of Trump’s administration,” said Ned Lazarus, professor of George Washington University.
The plan reflects Trump’s first Abraham agreement that normalized the ties between Israel and the Arab states. This time, however, diplomacy developed against the background of war initiated by a surprising Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which left Gaza in the ruins and Israel increasingly isolated.
For the time being, it offers a cautious hope. However, as history shows, efforts to ensure permanent peace in the Middle East often decrease. Whether the Israeli strike is from Doho will remember as a ruthless mistake, that she has almost derailed the negotiations, or the turning point will depend on what happens next.
(Tagstotranslate) Hamas Peace Agreement
