September 17, 2025 • 18 mins
The UN Commission of Inquiry has delivered its starkest assessment yet – finding that Israel has been and is committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel has rejected the report, saying it’s acting in self-defence and takes steps to protect civilians.
Meanwhile, Israel has begun a major ground offensive in Gaza City after weeks of bombardment.
And abroad, Israel’s strike in the Qatari capital of Doha has rattled Qatar's mediator role and put hopes of a ceasefire further in doubt.
Today, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for HuffPost Akbar Shahid Ahmed, on the next stage of Israel’s war.
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Guest: Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for HuffPost, Akbar Shahid Ahmed
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to seven am. The
UN Commission of Inquiry has delivered its starkest assessment yet,
finding that Israel has been and is committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel has rejected the report, saying it's acting in self
defense and takes steps to protect civilians. At the same time,
(00:23):
Israel has begun a major ground defensive in Gaza City
after weeks of bombardment and abroad, Israel's strike in the
Qatari capital of Doha has rattled Katar's mediator role and
put hopes of a ceasefire further in doubt. Today, senior
diplomatic correspondent for Half Post Akbasha hit Ahmed on the
next stage of Israel's war. It's Thursday, September eighteen. So well,
(00:57):
let's begin with this finding from the UN Commission of Inquiry.
Tell me exactly what it's haunt.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
So this is a remarkable finding, coming now almost two
years into this war. It's from some of the most
respected jurists internationally and certainly in the UN system. It's
led by Navi Pile, a South Ascan jurists who's deeply respected.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
And known for her work.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
And what the report says is that Israel has been
and is committing genocide.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
The goal of the Israeli government is abundantly clear as
we continue to witness the destruction of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Commission finds it is genocide.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Now, this is a huge statement, obviously, and there's a
lot of backup that they have in their report.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
They know it's going to be contended.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Israel, of course rejects charges of genocide, says, look where
acting in self defense from US attacked US viciously on
October southerns and continues to hold these really hostages.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
The UN sides all of that is true.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
But according to their analysis, they're saying on four of
the five criteria by which you can charge genocide, they
have absolute confirmation that Israel is conducting it.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
On the specific intent of genocide, the Commission concludes that
statements made by Israeli authorities are direct evidence of genocidal intent.
The Commission also concludes that the pattern of conduct is
circumstantial evidence for genocidal intent, and the genocidal intent was
(02:37):
the only reasonable inference that could be drawn from a
totality of the evidence.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
The one that's really hard to prove always is intent.
But they say, based on segnals from Israeli officials and
the pattern of behavior bout Israelis, it looks like we
can tell the intent, even if of course you can't
seen someone's heart onlind Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
And so tell me more about Israel's reaction to report.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
So the Israeli response has understandly been quite serially.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Israel has already responded to the report. A Foreign Ministry
spokesperson called it a fake report, say it relies entirely
on her mass falsehoods laundered and repeated by others.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
These Raelis have been upset with you and on a
number of factors around the glass of war. But what
you'll hear from Israel and from its supporters, particularly here
in the US, is that Israel teaks precautions to shield civilians. Right,
so they will say, look, we have what they call
a safe zone, and they say, if we wanted to
(03:40):
meet on a side, you know, we could have been
much more vicious.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
But in fact we've been judicious. That's why it's.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Taken us now coming up on two years to conduct
this war. We have been slower than we otherwise would
have been. So how dare you accuse us of this?
Speaker 6 (03:53):
What we're doing is we're telling the population because we're
going to take over and destroy the ham Strongholder, one
of the last two strongholds and the most important one
that Hamas has left in the Gaza strip. We ask
you to leave.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Something important to remember with the Israeli response is while
they have largely criticized the UN's approach from its legal
analysis to its aid delivery, these Reelis has collaborated with
and participated in the UN. So they have admitted even
from there end that the UN legal expertise is really.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Valuable in this instance.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
And I point out particularly claims around the actual attacks
of October seventh and what Hamas did. These Raelis were
adminant that they're the international confirmation that Havas, among its
various other acts of violence, also committed sexual assault against
women on that day, and that was a very contested claim.
The Israelis brought in UN experts, and UN experts said,
(04:52):
you know what, yes, this claim is true. Hamas has
permitted sexual assaults. So when it's convenient for these Raelis,
you've certainly seen them embrace UAN findings. But these juris
and these experts in the UN broadly are trying to say,
we warned Israel right before we reached this finding. The
International Court of Justice U and to top court ordered
(05:13):
Israel three times in twenty twenty four to avoid China side.
So that's what these experts already saying is don't let
this happen. We don't want to accuse you of China side.
We don't want you to commit the jenocide. And this
is also coming in the context of a broader question
mark around the international legal apparatus and the International Criminal
Court a large. These experts are saying, if we can't
(05:34):
be taken seriously as holding Israel and the West spartners accountable,
how will they be taking seriously on China and Shinjiang,
on Russia and Ukraine, you know. So it's that broader
global picture two of justice.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Well, the UN report comes as Israel heavily bombed Gaza
City overnight, with Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz saying Gaza
is burning. We're getting on confirmed reports from the US
news side Axios and the Jerusalem Post that the military
has now launched its ground defensive to occupy the entire city.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And just as this report was published, is Rael launched
a ground offensive in Gaza City. So tell me what
we're seeing play up there at this moment.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
It's hard to say that anything is shocking this far
into the wall. And you know, I've done some reporting
from Plazas City and just imagine the way it's been
level than the way people are been living there now.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
It's hard to imaginating.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Its shocking, but this movie is still it's a different
level of fighting.
Speaker 7 (06:31):
A military official confirmed the idea is moving towards the
center of Gaza City. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Cats release
this statement Monday night. The idea for striking with an
iron fist at the terror infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Really it's a brown vision that is coming amid and
after heavy, heavy, heavy bombing. It's going to be kind
of street the street, house to house. There's tons of
pleasants people, so there Palestinians who are terrified, many of
them women and children. And this is you know, this
is expected to be probably the bloodiest battle of the war.
(07:08):
It's something that Israel's own security apparatus has been quite adamant.
They don't want to do and they've said, look, we
think strategically this might be a mistake, It might be
hard to win.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
It might feel backlash.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
From the Palestinians that helps sum Us. It might heel
international coordination. So from the Israeli security operatists, they are
saying still that they're trying to slow roll.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
This is fault on Plaza City.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
But it is a major offensive and again will probably
be the biggest offensive intercrowded city throughout this entire war.
There's still just hundreds of thousands of people still in
the city as the fighting begains.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Okay, and all of this comes as the US Secretary
of State Marco Rubio has been in the region. He
met with Benjamin Netnyahu at the beginning of the week.
So tell me about the reason for his trip.
Speaker 8 (07:56):
Well, haamask can surrender tonight if they want, lay down
their way weapons. The problem is a terrorist group, barbaric
group whose stated mission is the destruction of the Jewish state.
So we're not counting on that from happening.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Secretary Rubio, who important remember is also President Trump's National
Security advisor.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Secretary Rubio is.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Representing the Trump administration on the ground in the Middle East.
After Israel's truck, a major US ally got there in
the middle of last week where it targeted something US
leaders unsuccessfully. So he's in the regent's private say we
don't want to see this explode. But it's also shows
solidarity both with Israel and with Patter.
Speaker 8 (08:41):
As much as we may wish that there'd be a
sort of a peaceful diplomatic way to end it and
will continue to explore and be dedicated to it, we
also have to be prepared for the possibility that that's
not going to happen.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
While it remains basically all one player side, it is
the enabler, the backer, the diplomatic and military supporter of it.
Sale they want to say, look, we're trying to prevent
conflict from spiring.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Other control.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Coming up, how Israel's attack on Doha has left Arab
leaders questioning if they can still rely on the United States.
Speaker 9 (09:25):
So we've got breaking news from the Middle East, and
this is significant. Moments ago, the Israeli military saying that
it conducted a strike against senior Hamas leadership not in Gaza,
but in the capital city of Doha and Qatar Akbar.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
As you mentioned, just over a week ago, Israel launched
an attack on a residential neighborhood in the Qatari capital Doha.
Tell me a bit more about what happened.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, is a targeted attack on the leadership of Hamas
in the center of the Katrie capital of Doha, in
a commercial district surrounded by luxury skysc does embassy's fancy supermarkets,
in the middle of a weekday afternoon.
Speaker 6 (10:13):
At noon today, I convened the heads of Israel security
organizations and authorized a surgical precision strike under terrorist chiefs
of Ramas.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
These really said they were talking specifically two figures Hamas leaders,
Khalil al Haya and Khalige Mitchell, among others. Those are
two of the most senior Hammas leaders. Neither was actually killed.
But it really raised this question of why these Radis
would do that while As simultaneously pursuing negotiations with Hamas
(10:43):
broke out by the US, in which these Hamas leaders
are kind of top decision makers for any possible deal.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Well, yeah, was the goal here to disrupt states by negotiations.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Suddenly there's been a lot of suspicion on the American side,
on the Israelis side, particularly you know from hostage families
is really hostages, twenty of them still alive, are still
in Gaza, and a lot of them are saying why
have we not ended this war and cut a deal
to bring out people home.
Speaker 10 (11:09):
You must to understand every second in captivity is dangerous.
I didn't think that I could make able alive.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
One of the most kind of chilling messages about the
Gaza City offensive came from Noah ar the Money, one
of the Freedom's really hostages, where she said I knew
what it felt like to be in this really hostage
in Gaza as we were ramping up fighting.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Why are I be cutting a deal instead?
Speaker 10 (11:36):
Today I come before you to say, do not let
the darkness take over work for to get everyone home now.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Prime Minister at Niaghu has said two things at once.
He said, I will only accept the deal that is
really really tilted towards Israel while it's so prioritize the hostages,
but also his saying I'm going to target and eliminate
her master's leadership everywhere. So even after this striking cucker,
they didn't say from the Israeli side that that was it.
(12:09):
They said, where going to keep going off for hermass leaders?
Was it intentional to disrupt the talks? I think you'd
be hard pressed to find this really official who would
concede that on the record, given that they are a
US partner. At President Trump has said he wants to deal.
They're not going to say anything that will anger him.
But certainly there's cluster marks about why this was coming.
(12:31):
I'd also note again this is coming amid the Gaza
City offensive, amid the UN session, where there's going to
be a lot of talk of Balastinian stated it's also
way for Israel to flex its muscles at a really
strategic point and distract from some other matters.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
That that happening.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
And in response to that attack in Doha, dozens of
Arab and Islamic leaders they met in Qatar on Monday,
So tell me a bit about who was there and
what was discussed.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
So this was a meeting that brought together kind of
the shocked countries across the region, many of the US
partners that did not think the US would commit Israel
to go ahead with an attack like this.
Speaker 11 (13:10):
We gathered today on a very somber and sorrowful occasion
when the brotherly Islamic state of Cuta was treacherously targeted
by an aggressor who why did international law without fear
of any consequence.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
So you had countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt,
your countries are close to the US.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
You also had Iran.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
The idea was Cutter really felt its sovereignty, its role
in the region was questioning nob It never has been before.
Cutter has been climbing this neutral ground. I mean it's
hosted from US because the US asked it to. So
they're really wondering. We thought that role would shield us.
Speaker 12 (13:55):
Now they're sending a negotiating team on one head, and
they're trying to eviscerate the negotiation on the other. This
has been the practice of the Israelis to this day.
If bringing the war to a halt will be met
with the release of their captives, it is not what
they want. They aim to turn Gaza into a wasteland
(14:17):
uninhabitable by the Palestinians.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
The summit did bring kind of fiery speeches from a
lot of these leaders, it didn't bring significant action, and
it seems that for now some of these leaders in
the Ireland majority world are still hoping that full size
to President Trump can overwhelm his preference and his support
for Israel, so kind of inspire him to rein in
(14:41):
Prime Ministern and Yahoo. And we have some grounds to
believe that, right compared to say President Biden a year ago.
President Trump has a very deep financial interests in a
lot of these countries and does not want to see
risks of their economies full of business and be He
has actually a willingness to push that Yahoo in the
(15:02):
way that Bid the administration did not. He pushed him
into cease fire at the beginning of this year. He's
pushed him to kind of respect syria sovereignty a little more.
So that's kind of the hope. So they're holding a fire,
but I wouldn't be surprised to see them become more
certain in the future.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And Katar is obviously a key US ally in the region.
There's the largest US military facility in the Middle East,
and it's long played this role in trying to mediate
diplomacy in the area. So to what extent is all
of that at risk now?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
So I even few fund the Hamas leadership and fatter Right,
the Fatteries manage their presence, their safety, their security, They
ticket extremely seriously. It's not that these Hamas leaders are
kind of running around the Pefrey capital it scot Free.
It's very much seen as this is a process, this
is a special role that we will play, and of
course in that capacity, they've also had really close links
(15:55):
and discussions with Israel over many years. I mean Israel
prior to October seventh work very closely with the Gutterries
to kind of shore up the hamas.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Ruan government in Gaza.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I think Cutter is facing a bit of a bit
of an identity crisis. It's certainly looking to see if
there are others in its neighborhood who could shore that more,
and that could mean Iran, with which it's always kind
of had an open dialogue. I don't think it's likely
to move out of the US military umbrella. But you know,
moments like this really make these countries that are wealthy
(16:28):
nations that spend billions part billions in the US from
private investments, that link their entire military system to the US.
It makes some questions should we keep doing that is
not actually a security guarantee. So you could see a
little more of kind of the potential flirting with US competitors,
you know, Russia, China, which we've seen other countries in
(16:50):
the DALs Do, notably the United our Emirates.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Well Appa, thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Also in the news today, US President Donald Trump has
confirmed he plans to meet Prime Minister Anthony Alberzi for
the first time soon. Albenzi is due to visit the
United States next week for the Meeting of View and
General Assembly in New York. President Trump has not given
an exact date for a meeting, but mentioned that the
two leaders would be meeting soon as he criticized ABC
(17:29):
journalist John Lyons for asking a question about his business
dealings and Tyler James Robinson, the suspect in right wing
activist Charlie Kirk's assassination, has made a court appearance via
video feed from jail. The twenty two year old is
being held without bail as he faces seven charges, including
aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. I'm Ruby Jones.
(17:53):
This is seven am. See tomorrow you
Speaker 3 (18:04):
And
I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to seven am. The
UN Commission of Inquiry has delivered its starkest assessment yet,
finding that Israel has been and is committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel has rejected the report, saying it's acting in self
defense and takes steps to protect civilians. At the same time,
(00:23):
Israel has begun a major ground defensive in Gaza City
after weeks of bombardment and abroad, Israel's strike in the
Qatari capital of Doha has rattled Katar's mediator role and
put hopes of a ceasefire further in doubt. Today, senior
diplomatic correspondent for Half Post Akbasha hit Ahmed on the
next stage of Israel's war. It's Thursday, September eighteen. So well,
(00:57):
let's begin with this finding from the UN Commission of Inquiry.
Tell me exactly what it's haunt.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
So this is a remarkable finding, coming now almost two
years into this war. It's from some of the most
respected jurists internationally and certainly in the UN system. It's
led by Navi Pile, a South Ascan jurists who's deeply respected.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
And known for her work.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
And what the report says is that Israel has been
and is committing genocide.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
The goal of the Israeli government is abundantly clear as
we continue to witness the destruction of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Commission finds it is genocide.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Now, this is a huge statement, obviously, and there's a
lot of backup that they have in their report.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
They know it's going to be contended.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Israel, of course rejects charges of genocide, says, look where
acting in self defense from US attacked US viciously on
October southerns and continues to hold these really hostages.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
The UN sides all of that is true.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
But according to their analysis, they're saying on four of
the five criteria by which you can charge genocide, they
have absolute confirmation that Israel is conducting it.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
On the specific intent of genocide, the Commission concludes that
statements made by Israeli authorities are direct evidence of genocidal intent.
The Commission also concludes that the pattern of conduct is
circumstantial evidence for genocidal intent, and the genocidal intent was
(02:37):
the only reasonable inference that could be drawn from a
totality of the evidence.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
The one that's really hard to prove always is intent.
But they say, based on segnals from Israeli officials and
the pattern of behavior bout Israelis, it looks like we
can tell the intent, even if of course you can't
seen someone's heart onlind Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
And so tell me more about Israel's reaction to report.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
So the Israeli response has understandly been quite serially.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Israel has already responded to the report. A Foreign Ministry
spokesperson called it a fake report, say it relies entirely
on her mass falsehoods laundered and repeated by others.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
These Raelis have been upset with you and on a
number of factors around the glass of war. But what
you'll hear from Israel and from its supporters, particularly here
in the US, is that Israel teaks precautions to shield civilians. Right,
so they will say, look, we have what they call
a safe zone, and they say, if we wanted to
(03:40):
meet on a side, you know, we could have been
much more vicious.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
But in fact we've been judicious. That's why it's.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Taken us now coming up on two years to conduct
this war. We have been slower than we otherwise would
have been. So how dare you accuse us of this?
Speaker 6 (03:53):
What we're doing is we're telling the population because we're
going to take over and destroy the ham Strongholder, one
of the last two strongholds and the most important one
that Hamas has left in the Gaza strip. We ask
you to leave.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Something important to remember with the Israeli response is while
they have largely criticized the UN's approach from its legal
analysis to its aid delivery, these Reelis has collaborated with
and participated in the UN. So they have admitted even
from there end that the UN legal expertise is really.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Valuable in this instance.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
And I point out particularly claims around the actual attacks
of October seventh and what Hamas did. These Raelis were
adminant that they're the international confirmation that Havas, among its
various other acts of violence, also committed sexual assault against
women on that day, and that was a very contested claim.
The Israelis brought in UN experts, and UN experts said,
(04:52):
you know what, yes, this claim is true. Hamas has
permitted sexual assaults. So when it's convenient for these Raelis,
you've certainly seen them embrace UAN findings. But these juris
and these experts in the UN broadly are trying to say,
we warned Israel right before we reached this finding. The
International Court of Justice U and to top court ordered
(05:13):
Israel three times in twenty twenty four to avoid China side.
So that's what these experts already saying is don't let
this happen. We don't want to accuse you of China side.
We don't want you to commit the jenocide. And this
is also coming in the context of a broader question
mark around the international legal apparatus and the International Criminal
Court a large. These experts are saying, if we can't
(05:34):
be taken seriously as holding Israel and the West spartners accountable,
how will they be taking seriously on China and Shinjiang,
on Russia and Ukraine, you know. So it's that broader
global picture two of justice.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Well, the UN report comes as Israel heavily bombed Gaza
City overnight, with Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz saying Gaza
is burning. We're getting on confirmed reports from the US
news side Axios and the Jerusalem Post that the military
has now launched its ground defensive to occupy the entire city.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And just as this report was published, is Rael launched
a ground offensive in Gaza City. So tell me what
we're seeing play up there at this moment.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
It's hard to say that anything is shocking this far
into the wall. And you know, I've done some reporting
from Plazas City and just imagine the way it's been
level than the way people are been living there now.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
It's hard to imaginating.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Its shocking, but this movie is still it's a different
level of fighting.
Speaker 7 (06:31):
A military official confirmed the idea is moving towards the
center of Gaza City. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Cats release
this statement Monday night. The idea for striking with an
iron fist at the terror infrastructure.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Really it's a brown vision that is coming amid and
after heavy, heavy, heavy bombing. It's going to be kind
of street the street, house to house. There's tons of
pleasants people, so there Palestinians who are terrified, many of
them women and children. And this is you know, this
is expected to be probably the bloodiest battle of the war.
(07:08):
It's something that Israel's own security apparatus has been quite adamant.
They don't want to do and they've said, look, we
think strategically this might be a mistake, It might be
hard to win.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
It might feel backlash.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
From the Palestinians that helps sum Us. It might heel
international coordination. So from the Israeli security operatists, they are
saying still that they're trying to slow roll.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
This is fault on Plaza City.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
But it is a major offensive and again will probably
be the biggest offensive intercrowded city throughout this entire war.
There's still just hundreds of thousands of people still in
the city as the fighting begains.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Okay, and all of this comes as the US Secretary
of State Marco Rubio has been in the region. He
met with Benjamin Netnyahu at the beginning of the week.
So tell me about the reason for his trip.
Speaker 8 (07:56):
Well, haamask can surrender tonight if they want, lay down
their way weapons. The problem is a terrorist group, barbaric
group whose stated mission is the destruction of the Jewish state.
So we're not counting on that from happening.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Secretary Rubio, who important remember is also President Trump's National
Security advisor.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Secretary Rubio is.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Representing the Trump administration on the ground in the Middle East.
After Israel's truck, a major US ally got there in
the middle of last week where it targeted something US
leaders unsuccessfully. So he's in the regent's private say we
don't want to see this explode. But it's also shows
solidarity both with Israel and with Patter.
Speaker 8 (08:41):
As much as we may wish that there'd be a
sort of a peaceful diplomatic way to end it and
will continue to explore and be dedicated to it, we
also have to be prepared for the possibility that that's
not going to happen.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
While it remains basically all one player side, it is
the enabler, the backer, the diplomatic and military supporter of it.
Sale they want to say, look, we're trying to prevent
conflict from spiring.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Other control.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Coming up, how Israel's attack on Doha has left Arab
leaders questioning if they can still rely on the United States.
Speaker 9 (09:25):
So we've got breaking news from the Middle East, and
this is significant. Moments ago, the Israeli military saying that
it conducted a strike against senior Hamas leadership not in Gaza,
but in the capital city of Doha and Qatar Akbar.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
As you mentioned, just over a week ago, Israel launched
an attack on a residential neighborhood in the Qatari capital Doha.
Tell me a bit more about what happened.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, is a targeted attack on the leadership of Hamas
in the center of the Katrie capital of Doha, in
a commercial district surrounded by luxury skysc does embassy's fancy supermarkets,
in the middle of a weekday afternoon.
Speaker 6 (10:13):
At noon today, I convened the heads of Israel security
organizations and authorized a surgical precision strike under terrorist chiefs
of Ramas.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
These really said they were talking specifically two figures Hamas leaders,
Khalil al Haya and Khalige Mitchell, among others. Those are
two of the most senior Hammas leaders. Neither was actually killed.
But it really raised this question of why these Radis
would do that while As simultaneously pursuing negotiations with Hamas
(10:43):
broke out by the US, in which these Hamas leaders
are kind of top decision makers for any possible deal.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Well, yeah, was the goal here to disrupt states by negotiations.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Suddenly there's been a lot of suspicion on the American side,
on the Israelis side, particularly you know from hostage families
is really hostages, twenty of them still alive, are still
in Gaza, and a lot of them are saying why
have we not ended this war and cut a deal
to bring out people home.
Speaker 10 (11:09):
You must to understand every second in captivity is dangerous.
I didn't think that I could make able alive.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
One of the most kind of chilling messages about the
Gaza City offensive came from Noah ar the Money, one
of the Freedom's really hostages, where she said I knew
what it felt like to be in this really hostage
in Gaza as we were ramping up fighting.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Why are I be cutting a deal instead?
Speaker 10 (11:36):
Today I come before you to say, do not let
the darkness take over work for to get everyone home now.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Prime Minister at Niaghu has said two things at once.
He said, I will only accept the deal that is
really really tilted towards Israel while it's so prioritize the hostages,
but also his saying I'm going to target and eliminate
her master's leadership everywhere. So even after this striking cucker,
they didn't say from the Israeli side that that was it.
(12:09):
They said, where going to keep going off for hermass leaders?
Was it intentional to disrupt the talks? I think you'd
be hard pressed to find this really official who would
concede that on the record, given that they are a
US partner. At President Trump has said he wants to deal.
They're not going to say anything that will anger him.
But certainly there's cluster marks about why this was coming.
(12:31):
I'd also note again this is coming amid the Gaza
City offensive, amid the UN session, where there's going to
be a lot of talk of Balastinian stated it's also
way for Israel to flex its muscles at a really
strategic point and distract from some other matters.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
That that happening.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
And in response to that attack in Doha, dozens of
Arab and Islamic leaders they met in Qatar on Monday,
So tell me a bit about who was there and
what was discussed.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
So this was a meeting that brought together kind of
the shocked countries across the region, many of the US
partners that did not think the US would commit Israel
to go ahead with an attack like this.
Speaker 11 (13:10):
We gathered today on a very somber and sorrowful occasion
when the brotherly Islamic state of Cuta was treacherously targeted
by an aggressor who why did international law without fear
of any consequence.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
So you had countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt,
your countries are close to the US.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
You also had Iran.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
The idea was Cutter really felt its sovereignty, its role
in the region was questioning nob It never has been before.
Cutter has been climbing this neutral ground. I mean it's
hosted from US because the US asked it to. So
they're really wondering. We thought that role would shield us.
Speaker 12 (13:55):
Now they're sending a negotiating team on one head, and
they're trying to eviscerate the negotiation on the other. This
has been the practice of the Israelis to this day.
If bringing the war to a halt will be met
with the release of their captives, it is not what
they want. They aim to turn Gaza into a wasteland
(14:17):
uninhabitable by the Palestinians.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
The summit did bring kind of fiery speeches from a
lot of these leaders, it didn't bring significant action, and
it seems that for now some of these leaders in
the Ireland majority world are still hoping that full size
to President Trump can overwhelm his preference and his support
for Israel, so kind of inspire him to rein in
(14:41):
Prime Ministern and Yahoo. And we have some grounds to
believe that, right compared to say President Biden a year ago.
President Trump has a very deep financial interests in a
lot of these countries and does not want to see
risks of their economies full of business and be He
has actually a willingness to push that Yahoo in the
(15:02):
way that Bid the administration did not. He pushed him
into cease fire at the beginning of this year. He's
pushed him to kind of respect syria sovereignty a little more.
So that's kind of the hope. So they're holding a fire,
but I wouldn't be surprised to see them become more
certain in the future.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And Katar is obviously a key US ally in the region.
There's the largest US military facility in the Middle East,
and it's long played this role in trying to mediate
diplomacy in the area. So to what extent is all
of that at risk now?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
So I even few fund the Hamas leadership and fatter Right,
the Fatteries manage their presence, their safety, their security, They
ticket extremely seriously. It's not that these Hamas leaders are
kind of running around the Pefrey capital it scot Free.
It's very much seen as this is a process, this
is a special role that we will play, and of
course in that capacity, they've also had really close links
(15:55):
and discussions with Israel over many years. I mean Israel
prior to October seventh work very closely with the Gutterries
to kind of shore up the hamas.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Ruan government in Gaza.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I think Cutter is facing a bit of a bit
of an identity crisis. It's certainly looking to see if
there are others in its neighborhood who could shore that more,
and that could mean Iran, with which it's always kind
of had an open dialogue. I don't think it's likely
to move out of the US military umbrella. But you know,
moments like this really make these countries that are wealthy
(16:28):
nations that spend billions part billions in the US from
private investments, that link their entire military system to the US.
It makes some questions should we keep doing that is
not actually a security guarantee. So you could see a
little more of kind of the potential flirting with US competitors,
you know, Russia, China, which we've seen other countries in
(16:50):
the DALs Do, notably the United our Emirates.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Well Appa, thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Also in the news today, US President Donald Trump has
confirmed he plans to meet Prime Minister Anthony Alberzi for
the first time soon. Albenzi is due to visit the
United States next week for the Meeting of View and
General Assembly in New York. President Trump has not given
an exact date for a meeting, but mentioned that the
two leaders would be meeting soon as he criticized ABC
(17:29):
journalist John Lyons for asking a question about his business
dealings and Tyler James Robinson, the suspect in right wing
activist Charlie Kirk's assassination, has made a court appearance via
video feed from jail. The twenty two year old is
being held without bail as he faces seven charges, including
aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. I'm Ruby Jones.
(17:53):
This is seven am. See tomorrow you
Speaker 3 (18:04):
And
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