In a stunning escalation that rattled diplomatic circles across the Middle East, Israel launched a surprise airstrike on Doha, Qatar, on September 9, 2025, targeting the political offices of Hamas leaders. The attack, which killed a Qatari security agent and five others but failed to eliminate the intended Hamas targets, has sent shockwaves through the region and cast a harsh spotlight on the reliability of American security guarantees for its Gulf allies.
According to AP Photo and Reuters, the Israeli strike was ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and executed without formally warning the United States, despite Qatar’s status as a major U.S. ally and host to Washington’s largest military base in the Middle East. The absence of prior notification left U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, blindsided and frustrated. Trump, who had met with the Qatari leader less than four months earlier to sign a sweeping defense agreement, was quoted as being “very unhappy about every aspect” of the Israeli operation and particularly annoyed that he learned of the attack from the U.S. military rather than directly from Israel.
The Israeli government’s decision to act unilaterally, disregarding the diplomatic sensitivities of its closest ally, has raised uncomfortable questions for Arab leaders throughout the region. As reported by AP, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain—other U.S. allies—condemned the attack but are not expected to respond with military action or trade sanctions against Israel. Instead, the incident is likely to accelerate efforts among Arab states to diversify their alliances, seeking stronger economic, political, and even military ties with other global powers outside the American orbit.
“Israel has shown it is not afraid to act against U.S. interests,” noted Reuters, highlighting the cold calculus that has come to define the Trump-Netanyahu relationship. While President Trump has occasionally expressed displeasure with Netanyahu, analysts and U.S. officials agree that the fundamental alliance between the two leaders—and their respective countries—remains intact. Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, commented, “On this one, I think Trump is annoyed by Netanyahu’s tactics. (Trump’s) instinct is that he agrees with Netanyahu’s notion that Hamas cannot just be hollowed out as a military organization. It needs to be fundamentally weakened.”
The White House, when pressed for comment, referred Reuters to Trump’s remarks on Truth Social, where he stated, “The bombings did not advance U.S. or Israeli interests. However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.” This nuanced stance reflects the delicate balancing act the Trump administration faces: expressing disapproval of Israel’s disregard for U.S. diplomatic channels while reaffirming support for Israel’s broader campaign against Hamas.
The Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment on the matter, adding to the air of uncertainty surrounding the episode. The lack of coordination is not without precedent. As Reuters recalled, Israel previously failed to inform the U.S. before its September 2024 attack on Hezbollah, which wounded thousands of the group’s members with booby-trapped pagers, leaving then-President Joe Biden similarly out of the loop.
The immediate aftermath of the Doha strike has exposed fissures not only between Israel and the U.S. but also within the broader American-led security architecture in the Middle East. Arab leaders, already wary of Washington’s shifting priorities and perceived inconsistencies, are now openly questioning the value of American security guarantees. As experts cited by AP suggest, this could prompt a recalibration of regional alliances, with Gulf states exploring closer ties with rival powers such as China and Russia.
Despite the diplomatic uproar, a rupture in the Trump-Netanyahu relationship appears unlikely. Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S., told Reuters, “If Netanyahu can continue to appeal to those two sides of this president then he will be okay. I’m not concerned about the relationship.” The partnership, described by one senior White House official as “hot and cold since the campaign,” has weathered numerous ups and downs, including Trump’s decision in May 2025 to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE but skip Israel, a move widely interpreted as a snub.
Yet, the alliance has also demonstrated remarkable resilience. In June 2025, after Israel launched an air war on Iran, Trump surprised even his own political allies by dispatching B-2 bombers to partially destroy Iran’s key nuclear facilities. This show of force, while generating goodwill in Jerusalem, did little to advance Trump’s broader foreign policy objectives. In the weeks that followed, tensions flared anew as the U.S. criticized an Israeli strike in Damascus and struggled to manage the fallout from Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza—a campaign triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Doha incident, however, may have lasting repercussions for Trump’s ambitions in the region. As Reuters reports, the strike could dampen hopes for additional Gulf states to join the Abraham Accords, the landmark agreement brokered by Trump’s first administration that saw several Arab countries establish diplomatic ties with Israel. Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator for both Democratic and Republican administrations, observed, “As his Arab friends complain to him about what Israel is doing—and they are doing so now—he may say to them, give me a credible plan for the day after in Gaza and with an alternative to Hamas running it and I will tell Bibi you have done enough.”
For now, the U.S. appears to be caught between its longstanding commitment to Israel and the growing unease of its Arab partners. Israel did notify the U.S. shortly before the Qatar strike, but there was no coordination or approval from Washington, according to two U.S. officials cited by Reuters. Jonathan Panikoff, a former deputy U.S. national intelligence officer on the Middle East, summed up the dilemma: “The U.S. can seek to cajole and push Israel to take decisions. But Netanyahu will continue to act in a manner that it views as in the best interests of Israel alone.”
As the dust settles over Doha, one thing is clear: the rules of engagement in the Middle East are shifting. With Arab leaders reevaluating their alliances and Washington’s influence appearing less certain, the region faces a period of profound uncertainty—and the world is watching closely.
