Israeli PM says cash he facilitated Qatar in sending to Gaza was really helpful by Israeli safety businesses for humanitarian functions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has boasted about bombing Qatar, whereas dismissing home accusations that funds despatched to Gaza have been used for something aside from assist.
In an interview with Israel’s i24NEWS that he shared on social media on Saturday, Netanyahu stated Qatar was a “hostile” state that didn’t dictate Israeli coverage throughout its genocidal battle on Gaza.
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“I attacked Qatar, I additionally bombed it and attacked them through the battle, they usually attacked me,” Netanyahu boasted.
The interview comes simply days earlier than the one-year anniversary of Israel’s September 9, 2025, strike on Doha. The bombing killed 5 Hamas members and a Qatari safety officer throughout a gathering to debate the United States-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal.
Qatar, which has lengthy served as a mediator in Center East conflicts and past, has hosted Hamas’s political workplace since 2012, after what it says have been requests from the US.
Doha condemned the strike as a “blatant violation of all worldwide legal guidelines and norms”, with Qatari Ministry of Overseas Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari calling it a “cowardly” assault.
A number of international locations within the area, together with Iran and Pakistan, additionally condemned the assault, with leaders from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia visiting Qatar shortly afterwards in a present of solidarity.
United Nations Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres referred to as the strikes a “flagrant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Throughout a gathering later that month on the White Home, Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump referred to as Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Overseas Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to apologise for the strike.
Throughout the i24NEWS interview, Netanyahu additionally defended the switch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in Qatari funds to Gaza that Israel had facilitated, saying the funds have been meant for humanitarian functions and had been transferred on the advice of Israeli safety businesses Mossad and Shin Wager.
“All this cash is value 2 % – 2 % of all the cash that entered the Strip,” the prime minister stated.
A few of Netanyahu’s detractors have alleged that the funds have been used to assist Hamas put together its October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, which precipitated its genocidal battle on Gaza.
Qatar denies such allegations, saying any claims that it funds Hamas are unfounded and pointing to the strict oversight governing its assist transfers.
“At present, once they [Israel] are claiming that that is the financing of Qatar to Hamas, it has no foundation,” Sheikh Mohammed stated throughout final 12 months’s Doha Discussion board.
“All our assist … went to Gaza, went to the folks, and was beneath a really clear course of that america is totally aware of.”
Netanyahu made the remarks weeks earlier than Israelis head to the polls on October 27, within the nation’s first common election since its battle on Gaza started in 2023.
With the October vote approaching, Netanyahu faces mounting stress at house over his authorities’s dealing with of the Gaza battle, the economic system and the battle with Iran — all shaping up as central points within the marketing campaign.
Analysts and critics say Netanyahu has repeatedly stoked tensions with different states forward of elections to rally nationalist assist.
