Netanyahu boasts about bombing Qatar, says Gaza funds used for aid

Israeli PM says money he facilitated Qatar in sending to Gaza was recommended by Israeli security agencies for humanitarian purposes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [File: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has boasted about bombing Qatar, while dismissing domestic accusations that funds sent to Gaza were used for anything other than aid.

In an interview with Israel’s i24NEWS that he shared on social media on Saturday, Netanyahu said Qatar was a “hostile” state that did not dictate Israeli policy during its genocidal war on Gaza.

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“I attacked Qatar, I also bombed it and attacked them during the war, and they attacked me,” Netanyahu boasted.

The interview comes just days before the one-year anniversary of Israel’s September 9, 2025, strike on Doha. The bombing killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer during a meeting to discuss the United States-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal.

Qatar, which has long served as a mediator in Middle East conflicts and beyond, has hosted Hamas’s political office since 2012, after what it says were requests from the US.

Doha condemned the strike as a “blatant violation of all international laws and norms”, with Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari calling it a “cowardly” assault.

Several countries in the region, including Iran and Pakistan, also condemned the attack, with leaders from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia visiting Qatar shortly afterwards in a show of solidarity.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the strikes a “flagrant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

During a meeting later that month at the White House, Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump called Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to apologise for the strike.

Netanyahu has been facing domestic pressure ahead of Israel’s legislative elections next month.

During the i24NEWS interview, Netanyahu also defended the transfer of millions of dollars in Qatari funds to Gaza that Israel had facilitated, saying the funds were intended for humanitarian purposes and had been transferred on the recommendation of Israeli security agencies Mossad and Shin Bet.

“All this money is worth 2 percent – 2 percent of all the money that entered the Strip,” the prime minister said.

Some of Netanyahu’s detractors have alleged that the funds were used to help Hamas prepare its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which precipitated its genocidal war on Gaza.

Qatar denies such allegations, saying any claims that it funds Hamas are unfounded and pointing to the strict oversight governing its aid transfers.

“Today, when they [Israel] are claiming that this is the financing of Qatar to Hamas, it has no basis,” Sheikh Mohammed said during last year’s Doha Forum.

“All our aid … went to Gaza, went to the people, and was under a very transparent process that the United States is fully aware about.”

以色列总理称，他促成卡塔尔向加沙输送的资金是经以色列安全机构建议用于人道主义目的的。

以色列总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡 [图片：Ronen Zvulun/路透社]

以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡吹嘘轰炸卡塔尔，同时驳斥了国内关于送往加沙的资金被用于援助以外的其他用途的指控。

内塔尼亚胡周六在社交媒体上分享了一段他接受以色列 i24NEWS 采访的视频，他在视频中表示，卡塔尔是一个“敌对”国家，在以色列对加沙发动种族灭绝战争期间，卡塔尔并没有左右以色列的政策。

以色列对加沙的围困迫使牙医在街头行医（共3条，第1条）

列表 2（共 3 条）：库什纳为何会见哈马斯领导人，以及这对特朗普的加沙路线图意味着什么

和平委员会表示，在哈马斯解除武装之前，以色列不会从加沙撤军（名单3/3）。

“我攻击了卡塔尔，我在战争期间轰炸了它，攻击了他们，他们也攻击了我，”内塔尼亚胡吹嘘道。

此次采访距离以色列2025年9月9日对多哈发动袭击一周年纪念日仅几天之遥。那次爆炸造成五名哈马斯成员和一名卡塔尔安全官员丧生，当时他们正在开会讨论美国支持的加沙停火方案。

卡塔尔长期以来一直扮演着中东及其他地区冲突的调解人角色，自 2012 年以来，该国一直是哈马斯政治办事处的所在地，据称这是应美国的要求而设立的。

多哈谴责此次袭击“公然违反所有国际法律和准则”，卡塔尔外交部发言人马吉德·安萨里称其为“懦弱的”袭击。

包括伊朗和巴基斯坦在内的该地区几个国家也谴责了此次袭击，约旦、阿拉伯联合酋长国和沙特阿拉伯的领导人随后访问了卡塔尔，以示声援。

联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯称此次袭击是对卡塔尔主权和领土完整的“公然侵犯”。

当月晚些时候在白宫举行的一次会议上，内塔尼亚胡和美国总统唐纳德·特朗普致电卡塔尔首相兼外交大臣谢赫·穆罕默德·本·阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·本·贾西姆·阿勒萨尼，就此次袭击表示道歉。

在以色列下个月举行立法选举之前，内塔尼亚胡面临着来自国内的压力。

在接受 i24NEWS 采访时，内塔尼亚胡还为以色列促成的数百万美元卡塔尔资金转移到加沙辩护，称这些资金用于人道主义目的，并且是根据以色列安全机构摩萨德和辛贝特的建议转移的。

“所有这些钱加起来只占流入拉斯维加斯大道所有资金的2%。”总理说。

内塔尼亚胡的一些批评者声称，这些资金被用来帮助哈马斯准备 2023 年 10 月 7 日对以色列的袭击，这引发了哈马斯对加沙的种族灭绝战争。

卡塔尔否认此类指控，称任何有关其资助哈马斯的说法都是毫无根据的，并指出其援助转移受到严格监管。

“今天，当他们（以色列）声称这是卡塔尔向哈马斯提供资金时，这是毫无根据的，”谢赫·穆罕默德在去年的多哈论坛上说。

“我们所有的援助……都送到了加沙，送到了当地人民手中，而且整个过程非常透明，美国对此完全知情。”