White House confirms Witkoff tried to warn Qatar about Israeli attack

The White House on Tuesday confirmed that President Donald Trump had directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to warn the Qatari government of an Israeli attack on its territory ahead of time and that he had done so.

"President Trump immediately directed Special Envoy Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did. The president views Qatar as a strong ally of the Untied States," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing. "She further stated that Trump felt 'very badly' about the location of the attack."

Israel targeted Hamas leadership in the country, which has hosted diplomatic talks in the hopes of ending the war in Gaza. The Qatari government has denied advance knowledge of the strike and condemned it forcefully.

"This morning the Trump administration was notified by the United States military that Israel was attacking Hamas which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing.

"Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or American goals," she added. 

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.