Trump: Qatar is a ‘great ally,’ Israel must be ‘very, very careful’ in handling it
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.
Police have closed Jerusalem’s Azza Street, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence is locate,d after the Hostage Family Forum announced that it was going to hold an overnight protest against the reported commencement of the first phase of the IDF’s takeover of Gaza City.
Hostage families fear that the operation will put their loved ones in danger.
The forum issues a statement saying that Netanyahu heard about the “families’ intention to come demonstrate near his home in Jerusalem and fled within minutes.”
The forum reiterates its call for the public to join them in Jerusalem for the protest.
The mother of hostage Matan Angrest says her son is being held in the area currently being struck by the IDF in Gaza City.
“I won’t let this be his last night (alive). I’m on my way to the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. Come with me!” Anat Angrest tweets.
The IDF has said that it is taking steps to avoid targeting areas where the hostages are held, though, it has in the past unknowingly done so, leading Hamas captors to execute several hostages.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is also being held in Gaza, tweets, “We hear the bombings on our children and we can’t sit at home.”
She accused Netanyahu of deciding to kill the hostages and of “sacrificing an entire country for his political survival.
“We are going out to demand the return of our children in a comprehensive deal to end the war,” Zangauker adds.
Hostage Nimrod Cohen’s mother Vicky Cohen addresses her son directly in an X post.
“My child, I know that the bombings around you are shaking the tunnel you are in,” she writes.
“I wish I could just tell you to take care of yourself, but we both know that this is not in your control. I am sending you strength and asking you: Be strong, and don’t break.”
US President Donald Trump says Israel won’t be striking Qatar again after last week’s strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha infuriated the Gulf state and other US allies in the region.
Asked in the Oval Office whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had given him any guarantees that Israel won’t strike Qatar again, Trump tells reporters, “He won’t be hitting Qatar.”
He reiterates that Doha has “been a very good ally, and a lot of people don’t know that.
Netanyahu “won’t be hitting Qatar, but he will be maybe going after…” Trump adds, indicating that he expects Israel to continue trying to target Hamas elsewhere before pivoting to discuss a related issue.
He recalls having read an article earlier today “where Hamas said they’re going to use hostages as human shields, going to bring them up from the dark tunnels and put them in the line of fire, so that if Israel goes forward, they’re going to die.”
“I thought that was very terrible and I put out a statement,” he says, referring to his Truth Social post in which he warned that “all bets are off” if Hamas adopted that strategy.
Trump is also asked about an Axios report citing unnamed Israeli officials who said that........
© The Times of Israel
