Israel doesn’t ‘always act in interests of the US’, ambassador says after Qatar strikes

JERUSALEM (AFP): Israel’s UN envoy on Wednesday said his country does not always act in the interests of its ally the United States, after Israeli strikes targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar drew a rare rebuke from President Donald Trump.

The White House on Tuesday said Trump did not agree with Israel’s decision to take military action on the US ally’s soil and had warned Qatar in advance of the incoming strikes.

But Qatar, which hosts a large US military base and is the venue of repeated rounds of Gaza peace talks, said it had not received the warning from Washington until the deadly attack was already under way.

“We don’t always act in the interests of the United States. We are coordinated, they give us incredible support, we appreciate that, but sometimes we make decisions and inform the United States,” Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon told an Israeli radio station.

“It was not an attack on Qatar; it was an attack on Hamas. We are not against Qatar, nor against any Arab country, we are currently against a terrorist organization,” he said.

Palestinian militant group Hamas said six people were killed in the strikes, including a son of its top negotiator, but that its senior leaders had survived. Qatar said one of its security officers also died.

Danon said Israel was “still waiting for the results” of the operation.

“It is too early to comment on the outcome, but the decision is the right one,” he added.