New York City — U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani for a private dinner in New York on Friday, days after an Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha threatened to unravel U.S.-backed peace negotiations in Gaza.
The dinner, held at an undisclosed Manhattan location, came amid growing regional fallout from Tuesday’s Israeli operation, which aimed to eliminate senior Hamas political figures on Qatari soil—a move condemned across the Middle East as a grave provocation.
President Trump, who has been mediating parallel diplomatic efforts in the region, made clear in a recent phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he disapproved of the operation, calling it “unilateral” and counterproductive. “It didn’t help U.S. or Israeli interests,” Trump told reporters after the dinner. “That’s not how we move forward.”
Trump reportedly reassured the Qatari side that no similar attacks would be allowed to occur again under U.S. watch.
Despite the deadly strike, Prime Minister al-Thani reaffirmed his country’s commitment to regional mediation, telling officials in Washington that Qatar would not allow provocations to derail its efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier in the day, al-Thani met with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House. According to a senior diplomatic source, discussions focused on Qatar’s critical role as mediator, joint security cooperation, and concerns over Israeli escalation.
Qatar’s Deputy Chief of Mission Hamah Al-Muftah confirmed the evening dinner with Trump and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, posting on X: “Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended.”
The Israeli strike in Doha has stirred alarm across diplomatic circles, with analysts warning it could derail sensitive hostage negotiations and ceasefire talks.
Qatar, a longtime U.S. ally and host of the largest American military base in the region, has been central to efforts to de-escalate the Gaza war, facilitate the release of Israeli hostages, and shape a post-conflict framework for the enclave.
Prime Minister al-Thani accused Israel of attempting to sabotage those efforts. “This was clearly designed to disrupt our peace work,” he reportedly told U.S. officials.
The Gaza conflict, which erupted after Hamas-led fighters launched a deadly cross-border assault on October 7, 2023, has claimed over 64,000 lives, according to Palestinian health authorities. Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, with widespread famine and infrastructure collapse.
Israel has rejected accusations of genocide levelled by rights groups and international legal experts, insisting its military operations are in self-defence. In addition to Gaza, Israel has carried out airstrikes in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Yemen as the war continues to spill across borders.
