Trump Envoy Witkoff Expresses Betrayal Over Israel's Strike on Hamas Negotiators in Qatar

Qatar serves as a crucial US ally and has been functioning as a mediator in efforts to bring the Gaza war to an end.

Steve Witkoff, US envoy and President Donald Trump's lead negotiator for Middle East affairs, expressed feeling "betrayed" when Israel conducted a strike against Hamas negotiators in Qatar in September.

During a CBS interview alongside Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who collaborated with Witkoff on negotiating a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the presidential envoy revealed that he learned about the September 9 attack in Doha the morning following the incident.

Qatar, an important US ally, has played a significant role as mediator in efforts to resolve the Gaza conflict.

"I think both Jared and I felt, I just feel we felt a little bit betrayed," Witkoff stated to the CBS news program "60 Minutes" in excerpts released Friday. The complete interview is scheduled to broadcast on Sunday.

The strike effectively halted the indirect negotiation process aimed at ending the fighting in the devastated Gaza Strip, which had been triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

"It had a metastasising effect because the Qataris were critical to the negotiation, as were the Egyptians and the Turks," Witkoff explained.

"We had lost the confidence of the Qataris. And so Hamas went underground, and it was very, very difficult to get to them."

Trump commented on social media at the time that the decision to execute the Doha air raid came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel and Hamas eventually accepted a 20-point peace plan presented by Trump that outlined hostage and prisoner releases along with a ceasefire after two years of deadly conflict.

During a White House visit this month, Netanyahu, under pressure from Trump, called Qatar's prime minister to apologize for the Doha strike.