New Trump executive order guarantees Qatar security after Israeli attack

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order in which the United States pledges to guarantee Qatar’s security – including retaliatory military action – if the country were to come under attack again, in the wake of Israel’s unprecedented air strikes on the country last month that drew regional and global outrage.

Israel said that the attack targeted Hamas leaders who were in the capital, Doha, discussing a US ceasefire proposal for Gaza under Qatari auspices. It killed several members of the Palestinian group’s team, but not the leaders, as well as a Qatari security officer.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologised to Qatar for the killing of its citizen. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani received the apology on Monday in a joint call from Trump and Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House.

In his latest executive order, Trump said the US and Qatar are “bound together by close cooperation, shared interests, and the close relationship between our armed forces”.

The US president added that Qatar was “a steadfast ally in pursuit of peace, stability and prosperity” and had supported Washington in mediating regional and global conflicts.

“In recognition of this history, and in light of the continuing threats to the State of Qatar posed by foreign aggression, it is the policy of the United States to guarantee the security and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar against external attack,” he said.

“The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty or critical infrastructure of the state of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States,” the order says.

After the Israeli strikes in Doha on September 9, Washington tried to repair the damage done to diplomatic relations with Qatar while also showing its continued ironclad support for its ally Israel. The Gulf nation had called Israel’s actions “cowardly and treacherous”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Qatar on September 16 for talks, a week after the attack and one day after Arab and Islamic leaders had expressed solidarity with Qatar during an emergency summit in Doha.

In a post on X at the time, Rubio said he met with Qatari officials and “reaffirmed the enduring US-Qatar security partnership and our shared commitment to a safer, more stable region”.

Speaking after the talks, Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said his country was “determined to defend our sovereignty and take measures to prevent any recurrence of any attack”.

The true scope of Trump’s pledge remains in question. Typically, legally binding agreements, or treaties, need to receive the approval of the US Senate. However, presidents have entered international agreements without the Senate’s approval, like President Barack Obama did with Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Ultimately, any decision to take military action rests with the president.

Qatar has been a key US military partner over the years, allowing America’s Central Command to have its forward operating base at its vast Al Udeid Air Base. Former US President Joe Biden named Qatar as a major non-NATO ally in 2022, in part due to its help during the US’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“The Gulf’s centrality in the Middle East and its significance to the United States warrants specific US guarantees beyond President Donald J Trump’s assurances of nonrepetition and dinner meetings,” wrote Bader al-Saif, a history professor at Kuwait University who analyses Gulf Arab affairs.

 

Source: Al Jazeera