The BBC ever so carefully described Israel’s bombing of (UK and US ally) Qatar on 9th September as simply a “strike on senior Hamas leaders” who just happened to be situated in Doha. They report that the government of Israel states for the record that “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility”.
Two Qatari nationals were killed in the bombing in addition to members of Hamas. As Calum Miller, our Foreign Affairs spokesperson, rightly said in Parliament: “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s willingness to strike Doha will undermine efforts to secure the release of the hostages still held in Hamas’ captivity.”
Israel’s attack cannot be justified on the grounds that a legitimate military target long in hiding had just resurfaced. Qatar has hosted Hamas’ political leadership since 2012 – with the implicit blessing of both Israel and the US. No reasonable person can draw a conclusion other than that this was an attempt to derail peace talks: “it’s thought likely the targeted Hamas leaders were in the middle of discussing their formal response to the US ideas (about how to reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement)”.
Hamas has committed and defends the committing of war crimes. Its constitution continues to call for the destruction of Israel. Hamas’ fighters and military leadership are legitimate targets in war, but the alternative to some kind of peace deal – the complete elimination of the organisation – cannot be achieved without the genocide of the Palestinian people. Hamas’ awfulness is in this case irrelevant: you only attempt to assassinate the people you are negotiating with if you have no intention of reaching an agreement.
Israel continues to attack the new Syrian government too, complicating efforts to bring peace between different armed factions, to secure the safety of minority communities and damaging the forces that will be needed to defend the country from the ongoing threat by the extremists of the so-called ‘Islamic State’. Israel has extended its occupation of Syrian territory into and beyond the UN buffer zone and harasses and attacks Syrian civilians, undermining the authority and legitimacy of the government, which has never retaliated against Israel and continues to assert that it has no desire for conflict with its neighbour. It is hard to escape the conclusion that Israel prefers that Syria descends further into chaos, war and absolute poverty rather than its people be given the chance to create a better future – one that would enable millions of Syrian refugees to return to their homes.
It’s time to drop the pretence. Israel is a rogue state. Its government clearly considers itself to be above the law, unfettered by legal or diplomatic norms, and without any need to pursue peace. Israel has got so used to there being no consequences for its crimes, that you can see why Israel’s cabinet believes it can publicly commit to an explicitly expansionist and genocidal policy direction over and over again. (And the problem isn’t just a few particular ministers. Yair Lapid, leader of our supposedly liberal sister party Yesh Atid congratulated the “exceptional” attack on Qatar.)
If we are serious in wanting to bring an end to the current carnage, let alone in our commitment to a lasting peace and two state solution, the UK Government and our allies are going to have to do more than issue statements of condemnation. We are going to have to take concrete steps to force Israel to make a choice between constant war and diplomatic and economic isolation. I’ve been encouraged that Ed Davey has been more vocal recently, and to see Calum Miller urging the Government to sanction Netanyahu himself, but we’re going to need to be bolder at our upcoming conference. We have to be seen to move on from ‘both-sidesing’ when the circumstances require us to, and to stand up for international law, human rights and genuine efforts to seek peace.
* Jonathan Brown is a member of the Chichester Liberal Democrats, is Vice Chair of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine and Chairs the Liberal Democrats for Free Syria.
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21 Comments
In my comment on Ed Davey’s press release on Israel’s attack on Doha I mentioned my greater fear of the future of the West Bank as Smotrich speaks of an end of a Palestine.
Patrick Cockburn, who I respect, writes in the iPaper: ‘The significance of the bombing of the Qatari capital Doha by Israel is less to do with Hamas and Gaza and more about establishing military hegemony of a US-backed Israel over the Middle East as a whole.
The claim by Donald Trump that the US knew about the impending Israeli bombing raid too late to stop it is not being taken seriously in the region. The Israeli press says that the White House greenlit the operation, and US-manned air defences in Qatar – where America has 10,000 soldiers at al-Udeid, its biggest base in the Middle East – were reportedly switched off during the attack.
The leaders of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Jordan are among those gathering in Doha for a meeting to show solidarity with Qatar. They will be feeling deeply insecure, because one of oldest red lines in Middle East politics – that conservative Gulf monarchies allied to the US were safe from Israeli attack – has been brutally disregarded.
Israel’s raid on Doha is a sign of a new order in the Middle East, but it is a highly unstable one – and can only be sustained by the repeated use of military force.
Jonathan – I agree with every word you write. Well done for breaking a taboo that should have been shattered long ago.
Thank you also for drawing attention to Israel’s nefarious actions in Syria, which are designed to push Israeli hegemony in the region and risk destabilising a very fragile country that is facing huge obstacles but deserves our support.
I was delighted to see that Conference will be debating the appalling sitation in Sudan, which receives even less attention in our media than Syria. Perhaps it’s time to set up Lib Dem friendship groups for both countries?
I recall Tacitus from my latin class many many years ago at school :
“ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant”…………”they make a desert and call it peace”
Much to agree with here, but let’s not be taken in by the spin that the Hamas leadership in Qatar were peaceniks about to agree a deal. They’ve had 2 years and only last week one of them was still proclaiming that there would be many more October 7ths – calculated, if anything, to tell Israel there is no point agreeing to peace with us.
@Joe – thanks for your comments. I don’t know whether Hamas were about to agree to a deal. They had good i.e. self-interested – reasons to do so, and they had agreed to deals in the past, so it’s at least possible.
But it’s also not really the point. We don’t treat Hamas as a good faith actor – and for good reason. We don’t have diplomatic relations with them, we don’t support them, we don’t trade with them, etc., etc.
Israel is given many, many privileges that other states can only dream of – states that do not have anything like Israel’s record of war crimes and occupation. To give just one example, Israeli goods and services from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank are still allowed into our markets… while other countries neighbouring Europe get a much worse deal.
The point is that it would be appropriate for us to hold both parties to similar (ideally the same) standards.
Whether Hamas would have said yes to a deal is really not relevant in this case. The point is that Israel bombed the people who could have said yes, in an attempt to prevent them from saying yes.
Absolutely agree. We need to look for every opportunity to treat Israel as a pariah state. For example, we should be back Ireland in making clear that the UK should not participate in the 2026 Eurovision contest if Israel is invited.
@John McHugo – are you going to conference? I’m hoping to be able to make it.
A group of us have (kind of) re-established the Lib Dems for Free Syria – perhaps to be renamed the Lib Dem Friends of Syria – and we held a briefing for some of our MPs a couple of months ago. Let me know if you’re interested in being a part of it as we get more organised. We’ve got some really good people involved already, including some Syrians.
@JonathanBrown
Very sadly, I cannot be at conference this year, but am very happy to help with Lib Dem Friends of Syria.
@Joe Otten,
I don’t think any of us are taken in by any suggestion that Hamas are peaceniks. But the Hamas political leadership in Doha were negotiating – and going back to Biblical times diplomats negotiating are inviolate under the Law of Nations. You say they’ve had almost two years to agree a deal – well, so has Israel. Threatening another October 7 is outrageous, but so are many things Israel threatens to do – like “cleansing” Gaza.
What John McHugo 6.22 says.
The deflection “Oh, if you are criticising Plucky Little Israel you must be a supporter of Hamas” has gone on for far too long.
Are the Lib Dems able to send a message to Yesh Atid? We must call for international action that completely isolates Israel stopping all arms and harsh economic sanctions, while saying we want an internationally supported order in which both the people of Israel and the Palestinians are protected while current leaders are removed. Whatever the practicalities strong voices can have an effect.
I remember Layla Moran in 2024 saying that the leaders of Israel and Hamas should be taken to court and put in jail. We need to be that strong in what we say.
Jonathan, John,
I don’t recall the Hamas leadership in Qatar being described as merely a negotiating team until now. Clearly someone is reframing post the attack and you are buying it without question.
Sure, maybe they were suddenly about to make a concession after holding out for two years, and maybe Netenyahu was seeking to prevent that, but this is pure supposition that you are presenting as fact. Indeed Netenyahu is perfectly capable of saying no himself. Somebody’s framing is working on you again.
A simpler explanation would that Israel is at war with Hamas and has struck at a key command capability.
It’s interesting to read Joe Otten’s take on the “re-framing” of the realities in Israel and Gaza, and perhaps he’s right that we are all “buying” slanted stories, himself, of course, included.
There is one underlying fact which no-one can dispute. The creation of Israel was a colonial enterprise, and its present day claim to the right to annex Gaza and the West Bank is false. Netanyahu calls Palestinians “terrorists”, whereas in fact all Palestinians are simply victims of oppression, some of whom are fighting back (which is called armed resistance). The argument used by Netanyahu, that Palestinian “terrorism” (resistance to occupation by Israel) is what makes them undeserving of their own state, would be absurd even if the Israeli state itself had not been forged by Jewish terrorists – terrorists who went on to become national heroes.
Sorry Joe, I genuinely don’t see how anyone can make the argument you’re making in good faith.
The Freedman article linked above (https://samf.substack.com/p/netenyahus-bet-fails) details how Hamas’ political leadership have been operating in Qatar for many years – with the knowledge and even tacit support of the Israeli government:
“[Israel] found Qatar useful as an interlocutor, especially in those days when it was happy to sustain Hamas as a means of keeping the Palestinians split. Hamas was as opposed to a ‘two-state solution’ as Israel’s right-wing. When fighting broke out… Qatar was always there to arrange the ceasefire…”
Whether the individuals targeted are war criminals / terrorists or not isn’t the point. If Israel is engaged in diplomacy, these are the people it needs (via intermediaries) to engage with. Israel’s actions demonstrate that Israel is attempting to prevent a diplomatic solution that would end the war and return the hostages.
DW reports that Netanyahu, speaking yesterday from the occupied West Bank said: “We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us.”
Israel’s official position is the same as Hamas’.
It’s about time we recognised that and acted on that knowledge.
@Joe Otten 11th Sep ’25 – 11:33pm…
It is you who are buying Israel’s story without question..
Why would Hamas not agree to another ceasefire? After all, Hamas agreed to a ceasefire months ago, a ceasefire that enabled the release of Israeli hostages, until Israel broke that ceasefire..
Israel has a long history of assassination, on foreign soil, of anyone it deems a threat to Israel. If only we allowed Russia that leeway..
It is those who are pro Israel who have selective memories.. The daily violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank goes almost unreported except for the bravery of mainly CH4 journalist who risk death to provide coverage..
Those who complain most about, “Not believing Hamas” never explain why Israel refuses to allow independent journalists into Gaza..
Finally, In my view the ONLY way to influence Israeli policy is for every nation who has condemned Israel’s actions to break off ALL trade arrangements with Israel, to refuse to partake in any cultural, sporting and musical events that Israel attends…
Of course the USA won’t agree but, as the USA’s support is the ONLY thing that allows Israel to behave as she does, that will make no difference..
Let’s not forget there was a ceasefire agreement in place and it was Netanyahu who abrogated it in March of this year and effectively scuppered continuing negotiations for a longer term ceasefire. Why did he do it? Because he wanted Ben Gvir and Smotrich back in his cabinet so his government wouldn’t fall. Meanwhile the horrors continue both in the West Bank and Gaza, some 75-100 people are being murdered every day, annexation of the West Bank is steadily proceeding, and nearly 10,000 Palestinians are unlawful detainees/prisoners. https://www.libdemvoice.org/occupation-imprisonment-and-injustice-the-case-of-marwan-barghouti-and-the-global-silence-on-palestinian-detainees-78213.html And there are still apologists for the Israeli Government in this country – but fortunately few in our Party.
@ Jonathan Brown- your article incorrectly repeats the common falsehood that “(Hamas’) constitution continues to call for the destruction of Israel.” This is not true.
The UK’s Foreign Office website information states that “Hamas no longer demands the destruction of Israel in its covenant” since its May 2017 ‘Document of general Principles and Policies’, which accepts a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, without recognizing Israel. (and redefined Zionists, not Jews, the targets of their struggle.)
This is in context of the Likud party’s policy platform since 1977 stating “between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.”- 11 years before Hamas’ original charter.
But I broadly agree with this article in its call to wake up and see through its ‘Hasbara’ and old PR to the west and see what a ‘rogue’ sectarian state Israel really is as it treats millions of Palestinians.
Tomas H-J is right to pull Jonathan up on his claim that Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel. They may have once said it, but it is now simply propaganda used by Israel to try to justify its merciless slaughter of civilians in Gaza. Hamas is in no position to pose a threat to Israel existence, and never has been.
I’m sure there must be some Israelis who genuinely fear annihilation by their enemies, but for Netanyahu, exploiting and amplifying that fear is a calculated political act. Jonathan’s article is otherwise good, but he has gone too far in trying to be ‘even-handed’.
Thanks @Tomas, I will look further into this.
I remember Hamas winning the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in 2006 and being obviously ready to make peace (talking about agreeing to a multi-decade truce that would create the conditions for a future Palestinian leadership to agree final status terms that would obviously have included recognition of Israel) and thinking how stupid they were being by not getting rid of the antisemitism and obstructionism from their constitution then.
I hadn’t realised that they had returned to the issue years later and made some positive changes.
Jonathan’s main point is well-made – that Netanyahu is (and has been for a long time) trying to ensure there is no peace deal with Hamas, because he wants to proceed with the annexation. This is not the first time he has targeted Hamas negotiators in order to prolong the war, and it’s hard to believe Trump’s people haven’t noticed that. More likely, they are in full agreement with Netanyahu’s wish to finish the job of destroying hopes of a Palestinian state, and creating the Greater Israel he hopes will be his legacy to the Israeli people.
The Freedman article I’ve already mentioned points out that the timing of Israel’s attack on Iran was also almost certainly meant to prevent that country reaching an agreement with the USA. (He does make the point that such an agreement was unlikely anyway, but presumably Netanyahu didn’t want to take any chances.)
I didn’t mention Iran, or indeed Yemen, in my original article, as I think both cases are less black and white than the Qatari and Syrian ones. I do think that on balance they present further evidence that Israel’s preference is for chaos and instability in the Middle East, although it is also the case that Iran is also a state that commits war crimes like they’re going out of fashion and is also intent on using illegal violence to destabilise the region and subjugate millions of people.