Less than four months ago, President Donald Trump met with Qatar's leader, praised his magnificent palace, and signed a comprehensive defense agreement with the Gulf monarchy, a key ally that hosts the largest US base in the Middle East.

Israel's surprise attack on Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday has shaken the relationship, angered Trump, and drawn strong condemnation from Doha and its Western allies.

Ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and targeting the Palestinian militant group's political offices, the attack killed a Qatari security agent and five others, but failed to kill Hamas leaders. Trump said he was "very unhappy with every aspect" of the Israeli operation.

But despite the outrage, the attack is unlikely to change the president's fundamental approach to Israel, analysts and US officials say. Instead, the bombing underscores the cold calculation behind the Trump-Netanyahu relationship.

Israel has shown it is not afraid to act against US interests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government did not formally warn Washington about its planned bombing campaign on Tuesday, US officials said.

The lack of warning was reminiscent of Israel's attack on Hezbollah in September 2004, when Israel injured thousands of the militant group's members with bombed pagers without notifying then-President Joe Biden.

Trump, on the other hand, has occasionally expressed his displeasure with Netanyahu. However, his administration has strongly supported Israel's campaign to weaken Hamas and give it leadership on key issues such as Iran's nuclear program.

"In this case, I think Trump is disturbed by Netanyahu's tactics," said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a veteran US peace negotiator. However, Miller added, "(Trump's) instinct is that he agrees with Netanyahu's idea that Hamas cannot simply be dismissed as a military organization. Hamas needs to be fundamentally weakened."

When asked for comment, the White House referred Reuters to Trump's remarks on Truth Social on Tuesday night, in which he said the bombings neither advance U.S. nor Israeli interests. "However," Trump wrote, "eliminating Hamas, which has profited from the suffering of the people of Gaza, is a noble goal." The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. (alg)

Source: Reuters