President Trump has signed an executive order saying that any armed attack against Qatar would be considered “a threat to the peace and security of the United States.”
“In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability,” reads the executive order, which was dated Monday Sept. 29.
A Qatari official confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday that the Trump administration’s move to grant the small Gulf state the rare promise of U.S. military backup in the event of an attack on its territory came in response to Israel bombing Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Sept. 9.
Israel said its attack was aimed at Hamas leaders gathered in the Qatari capital, where the U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist group has long maintained a political office.
Qatar hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, the Al-Udeid Air Base, where thousands of American forces are stationed. The United States already classifies Qatar as a Major Non-NATO Ally, a designation that was approved by President Biden.
The executive order was signed in the wake of Israel’s attack on Doha, and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington to meet with Mr. Trump.
While that visit was largely focused on Mr. Trump’s announcement of a still-pending proposal for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, it also saw Netanyahu apologize to Qatar for the strike in Doha.
“As a first step, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his deep regret that Israel’s missile strike against Hamas targets in Qatar unintentionally killed a Qatari serviceman,” a White House readout of a trilateral phone call with Mr. Trump, Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, said.
Netanyahu “further expressed regret that, in targeting Hamas leadership during hostage negotiations, Israel violated Qatari sovereignty and affirmed that Israel will not conduct such an attack again in the future,” the White House said.
The Israeli attack shocked the Qataris and raised questions about Qatar’s security relationship with the United States.
Netanyahu, just several days after the strikes in Doha, threatened to launch new attacks on Qatar if it refused to eject Hamas political representatives.
The Israeli leader made the remarks after Mr. Trump said in a social media post that “eliminating” Hamas was “a worthy goal,” but that he had spoken with leaders in Qatar and assured the nation’s prime minister, “that such a thing will not happen again on their soil.”