President Trump met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Friday, days after Israel struck Doha in hopes of killing Hamas leaders.
The White House confirmed the two leaders had dinner late Friday in New York, but did not offer further details. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff was also attended the dinner.
“Great dinner with POTUS,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said late Friday on social platform X. “Just ended !”
On Tuesday, Israel launched an assassination strike against the Palestinian militant group’s political leadership in Qatar, killing five of the group’s members and a member of Qatar’s internal security force.
Trump said he was not happy with the strike, which was condemned by nearly all nations in the Middle East and some European countries.
Al-Thani’s dinner with Trump and Witkoff came hours after the Qatari prime minister met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President Vance at the White House.
Trump earlier this week expressed his frustration with the strike during a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reiterating he wants “peace,” the White House said.
Shortly after the attack, al-Thani vowed to retaliate against Israel.
“The state of Qatar is committed to act in a decisive way with anything that would target its territories and will reserve the right to retaliate and will take all the needed measures to retaliate,” al-Thani said.
The Qatari prime minister said on Thursday that Israeli strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha “killed any hope” of freeing hostages from the Gaza Strip.
Qatar is a key mediator in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government, regarding releasing the hostages and the plan for the war-torn enclave following the conflict.
Rubio traveled to Israel this weekend amid these rising tensions.
