Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply criticized Qatar Saturday night, accusing it of acting as a double agent and demanding it “choose a side” between Israel and the “barbaric” Hamas.
After Qatar accused Israel of committing gen0cide in Gaza and called the UN “a thorn in its colonial project,” Netanyahu responded:
“The time has come for Qatar to stop playing both sides with its double talk and decide if it’s on the side of civilization or if it’s on the side… pic.twitter.com/svoNV8hg9S
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 3, 2025
Last Thursday, Qatar told the International Court of Justice in the Hague (ICJ) that Israel continued its “genocide of war” in Gaza that constitutes the “crime of crimes” despite the 2024 advisory opinion of the ICJ declaring Israel’s occupation of “Palestinian” territory “unlawful.”
Mutlaq Al-Qahtani, representing Qatar, condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria, despite the ICJ’s advisory opinion from July 19, 2024, which urged Israel to leave the “occupied Palestinian territory” “as rapidly as possible.”
“Unfortunately, Israel has not ended its occupation,” Al-Qahtani said. “Instead, it has continued its genocidal war against the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza.”
He accused Israel of deliberately obstructing humanitarian aid, targeting water systems, food storage facilities, and aid convoys, while simultaneously expanding settlements and pursuing annexation in Judea and Samaria.
Israeli airstrikes, he said, have killed both aid workers and civilians receiving assistance, pushing hundreds of thousands toward catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Al-Qahtani stressed that Israel is not only prohibited from blocking aid but is obligated to enable the swift delivery and protection of humanitarian relief and personnel.
“Starvation is a war crime and a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” he stated.
Naturally, he did not mention that the “starvation” was in response to Hamas’s refusal to free 59 Israeli hostages, 24 of whom may still be alive.
Qatar also argued that Israel’s actions against UNRWA constitute a blatant violation of its international obligations.
He did not mention the UNRWA was a hotbed of Hamas terrorists who used the agency’s special status in Gaza and elsewhere to launch terrorist attacks from its locations.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office declared Saturday night that “it is time for Qatar to stop playing both sides with its double talk and decide whether it stands with civilization or with Hamas’s barbarism.”
The statement, posted in English on the Prime Minister’s official X account, added: “Israel will win this war through just means. Following the horrors of October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu defined the War of Rebirth as a battle between civilization and barbarism.”
The Qatari Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the remarks on Sunday morning. “The State of Qatar strongly rejects the inflammatory statements issued by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. The portrayal of the ongoing aggression against Gaza as a defense of ‘civilization’ echoes the rhetoric of regimes that throughout history have used false narratives to justify crimes against innocent civilians,” it said.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry statement posed a pointed question to the prime minister, in light of his repeated statements that military pressure is helping to secure the return of hostages: “Was the release of no fewer than 138 hostages achieved through supposedly ‘just’ military operations, or through the mediation itself, which is now receiving unjustified criticism and disdain?”
“Qatar’s foreign policy does not contradict its role as a reliable and neutral mediator. Campaigns of slander and political pressure will not deter Qatar from standing with oppressed peoples,” it said.
Speaking of echoing regimes throughout history, Qatar’s human rights record has been widely criticized by human rights organizations, citing significant restrictions on civil liberties—including freedom of association, expression, and the press—as well as the exploitation of migrant workers, with many subjected to conditions described as forced labor, particularly in major infrastructure projects.
The UN Committee Against Torture has determined that Qatar’s criminal code provisions allowing for flogging and stoning violate the country’s obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture. Homosexual acts remain illegal in Qatar and are punishable by death.
Qatar has faced sustained criticism for allegedly allowing terror financiers to operate within its borders, with accusations coming from intelligence agencies, government officials, and investigative journalists. In 2014, US officials, including then-Treasury Under Secretary David S. Cohen, accused Qatar of failing to act against individuals on international terror watchlists who continued to live openly in the country. Although Qatar enacted anti-terrorism legislation in 2004 and has amended it in the years since it has continued to face allegations of supporting groups such as Hamas. These concerns were a key factor in the Arab countries’ boycott of Qatar between 2017 and 2021.
