Turkey’s foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned Israel’s airstrike on Doha targeting members of a Hamas negotiating team, calling it a cowardly attack that undermined ceasefire efforts.
The ministry said in a statement that hitting Hamas negotiators during ongoing talks showed Israel was “pursuing war rather than peace.”
It warned that the strike added Qatar, the key mediator of the ceasefire process, to the list of states targeted by Israel.
The statement accused Israel of adopting “expansionism” and “terrorism as state policy” in the region.
Turkey declared solidarity with Qatar, describing the strike as an attack on the country’s sovereignty and security.
The ministry repeated its call for the international community to pressure Israel to halt its aggression in Palestine and across the region.
Israel carried out a rare strike on the Qatari capital on Tuesday, targeting a Hamas delegation gathered to discuss a new ceasefire and hostage exchange proposal.
The offer had been relayed to Hamas through Qatari mediation after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatari officials in Paris last week.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held talks with Hamas leaders in Doha on Monday to review the proposal.
On Tuesday the Hamas team reconvened with colleagues arriving from Turkey to continue discussions when the Israeli strike hit.
The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the Political Bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha. This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms,…
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) September 9, 2025
Qatari officials condemned the attack as a violation of sovereignty and international law, warning that it threatened to end the Gulf state’s role as mediator.
The Israeli attack marked its first direct strike on Qatari soil since the country’s assault on Gaza began in 2023.
It came amid months of stalled negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States aimed at securing a truce and a hostage release deal.
In November 2024 Qatar had temporarily suspended its mediation role, citing frustration with both sides’ intransigence, but resumed efforts in 2025 under US pressure.