A Daily Mail opinion column warned that a recent Israeli airstrike in Qatar, which the columnist said failed to kill its intended Hamas targets, has destroyed ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations and seriously damaged Israel's relations with Gulf Arab states.
Mark Almond, director of the Crisis Research Institute in Oxford, wrote that the operation in Doha represented a departure from a string of successful Israeli actions in the region and risked uniting previously estranged Arab states with Iran against Israel. Almond said the strike has "reduced to rubble" talks that had been hosted by Qatar and could end any realistic prospect of freeing the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
Almond recalled earlier high-profile operations, including what he described as an explosive-pager attack in Lebanon in September 2024 that he said killed and wounded large numbers of Hezbollah militants, and a June strike he said targeted Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists. He argued that the Doha attack failed to achieve a similar "decapitation" of Hamas leadership and instead accomplished diplomatic damage.
The columnist suggested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have ordered the strike in part to placate hardline coalition partners and to seek a rapid political or military success as the war in Gaza continues without a decisive outcome. Almond noted that the Israel Defence Forces on a recent day acknowledged the deaths of four Israeli soldiers killed by Hamas, which he said contributed to pressure on Israel's leadership to take bold action.
Almond’s column said the strike has prompted furious condemnation from Gulf monarchies and risked undoing the rapprochement between Israel and several Arab states that began with the Abraham Accords. The accords, brokered during Donald Trump's administration, led to formal ties between Israel and countries including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco; Almond wrote that those diplomatic gains have been "trampled" by the Qatar strike.
The column also cited what Almond described as growing strains on Western support for Israel’s military campaign. He wrote that the Pentagon had acknowledged providing a quarter of its anti-aircraft missile stock to Israel to help counter drones and missiles fired in retaliation by Iran, a transfer he suggested could be unsustainable over time.
Almond warned the operation may have wider strategic consequences, arguing that it could unite Sunni Gulf states with Shiite Iran and increase the risk of a broader regional conflagration. He said that if Gulf financial and diplomatic support for Israel erodes, Western governments such as Britain and France would face difficult choices about how to maintain support for a longstanding ally.
The opinion piece framed the Doha strike as an example of Israeli actions that, while intended to weaken enemies, have instead isolated Israel diplomatically in its own neighbourhood. Almond argued this isolation could force Israeli leaders to contemplate a longer, more difficult fight for survival.
The piece is presented as commentary and reflects the columnist's analysis of recent events and their potential consequences. It attributes operational details and assessments to Almond’s column and to public statements cited therein, including references to previous strikes and to the Israel Defence Forces' reported battlefield casualties.
Qatar has hosted rounds of negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages taken during cross-border attacks, and Gulf states have been active interlocutors in regional diplomacy. Any validation of Almond's assessments about the strike's impact on those talks would require statements from the parties involved, including Qatari officials, Israeli government spokespeople and representatives of the Gulf states.
The wider conflict between Israel and Hamas and tensions involving Hezbollah and Iran have produced repeated military incidents and diplomatic reactions across the Middle East over the past year. Analysts note that battlefield developments, political calculations in Jerusalem, and responses from regional powers have combined to shape a volatile and rapidly changing environment.
Almond concluded that the Doha strike amounted to a strategic miscalculation that sacrificed diplomatic progress for the prospect of a tactical payoff that did not materialize. He urged recognition that the operation's aftermath could leave Israel more isolated and increase risks for regional stability.
Reporting and commentary on the incident and its diplomatic fallout continue to evolve as governments and international organisations respond to developments in the Gulf and the longer-running conflict in Gaza.