PM Netanyahu tells Qatar: ‘If you harbor terrorists – bring them to justice, or we will’

Three days after the shocking Israeli strikes against Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha, the results still remain unclear.

In remarks on the eve of the anniversary of Sept. 11, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the strikes, warning that Israel would continue to hunt its enemies, wherever they hide.

“I say to Qatar and all nations who harbor terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will,” he said.

Amid ongoing condemnations from around the world, Netanyahu compared the Israeli operation to the U.S.’s actions against Al Qaeda in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

“We remember September 11th. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery on American soil since the founding of the United States. We also have a September 11th. We remember October 7th. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he said.

“What did America do in the wake of September 11th? It promised to hunt down the terrorists who committed this heinous crime, wherever they may be. And it also passed a resolution in the Security Council of the UN, two weeks later, that said that governments cannot give harbor to terrorists. Well, yesterday, we acted along those lines,” he stressed.

Netanyahu went on to slam Qatar, which he said gave safe haven to terrorists, “it finances Hamas, it gives its terrorist chieftains sumptuous villas, it gives them everything.”

“Now, the various countries of the world condemn Israel. They should be ashamed of themselves. What did they do after America took out Osama bin Laden? Did they say, ‘Oh, what a terrible thing was done to Afghanistan or to Pakistan?’ No, they applauded. They should applaud Israel for standing up to the same principles and carrying them out,” the prime minister charged.

The Qatari foreign ministry quickly hit back at what it called “reckless statements” by Netanyahu, arguing he was “fully aware that the hosting of the Hamas office took place within the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel.”

“He is also fully aware of the office’s role in facilitating numerous exchanges and ceasefires, which have been widely acknowledged and appreciated by the international community and have brought relief to Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages in desperate need of basic humanitarian relief.”

The statement went on to call Netanyahu “an individual who relies on extremist rhetoric to win elections and is wanted for international justice, facing mounting sanctions on a daily basis.”

Following the Israeli strikes, Qatar’s Prime Minister had called Israel an “enemy” and vowed to respond to the attack, without offering details as to the mode of response.

The Foreign Ministry reiterated that Qatar would work “with our partners to ensure Netanyahu is held accountable and that his reckless and irresponsible actions are brought to an end.”

It is still unclear whether the strikes that targeted several senior Hamas leaders were successful. Arabic-language reports said that five bodies of lower-rank operatives, including the son of one of the main targets, Khalil al-Hayya, have been identified so far.

On Thursday morning, an Arab source told i24NEWS that a French team of forensic experts who traveled to Qatar has identified the remains of four other bodies, whose identity hasn’t been released yet.

Since the strikes, none of the targeted leaders has appeared in public.

Army Radio reported that Israeli assessments suggest the senior Hamas officials were indeed present at the targeted site, but apparently were either unharmed or only partially injured.

The security system continues to examine the possibility that some of those targeted were killed, but initial findings indicate that not all of the six main targets were eliminated.

The report cited senior defense officials who estimate that gaining a better understanding of the results could still take several more days.