AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Qatar, a close U.S. ally, has become one of the most important mediators in the Middle East, most recently assisting efforts to try to negotiate an end to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. In 2011, the United States requested that Qatar host the Hamas leadership, provide a base for the group as a way to make communicating with the group easier. Last week, Israel targeted Hamas leadership in the capital, Doha, by bombing a building there in broad daylight. To understand what this means for the current Gaza ceasefire negotiations and the role of Qatar as a mediator, we turn to Khaled Elgindy. He's a visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. Thank you so much for joining us.
KHALED ELGINDY: Thank you for having me.
RASCOE: There are real ceasefire negotiations on the table right now, mediated by Qatar, to end the war in Gaza. The U.S. said it got very little warning that Israel was going to strike Qatar. What are the implications of this attack?
ELGINDY: I think the ceasefire talks are effectively dead now, at least for the foreseeable future. There are wide-reaching implications for America's allies. But also other Arab Gulf states and other allies in the region are going to be asking themselves, what does it mean to have American security guarantees if they're going to allow an attack like this to happen?
RASCOE: Well, why does Israel want to kill Hamas leadership when it's supposed to be negotiating with them?
ELGINDY: That's the million-dollar question. The attack confirms that Israel is not serious about a ceasefire deal, that it is not a priority to get its hostages released, and that it is much more interested in pursuing an agenda that is based on the annihilation of Gaza.
RASCOE: Qatar is going to hold an emergency meeting with Arab states to address the attack on Doha. Egypt is the other mediator in the Gaza ceasefire talks. How are Arab countries likely to react after this attack?
ELGINDY: I think we're going to see very strong language, not only in solidarity with Qatar and its sovereignty, but also some anger directed at the United States, as well. The United States did not do itself any favors by allowing this attack to happen. I don't think very many people accept the claim that Donald Trump only had a few minutes' warning or not very much advanced notification, and that gives, I think, Washington's Arab allies a sense that they greenlit this attack, which will really, really give them pause.
RASCOE: Well, stepping back, why did the U.S. ask Qatar to host the Hamas leadership back in 2011? I mean, this is a group that the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.
ELGINDY: Right. Well, it's precisely because of that that the U.S. asked Qatar to play that role because they couldn't. There is an understanding that Hamas is an actor. Simply putting it on the list of terrorist organizations doesn't negate its existence.
RASCOE: Well, do you think Qatar will now reevaluate this role after the attack?
ELGINDY: Oh, I think, absolutely. I mean, they've said as much that they're suspending the ceasefire talks. I mean, why wouldn't they? You know, in their mind, they were operating on the assumption that all parties were acting in good faith. But when one of the parties tries to kill the negotiators of the other side in the host country that is mediating between them, it really calls into question the seriousness of that process.
RASCOE: Well, if mediators like Qatar give up these roles because they no longer feel safe, what does it mean for the war in Gaza and conflicts in the world generally, and is there another country that could step into this role?
ELGINDY: So one scenario is, you know, Egypt steps up its role as a go-between, you know, as a party that can talk to all sides. But of course, they will look at what happened in Qatar and say, could the same thing happen here in Cairo? And based on the very blustery rhetoric from Netanyahu, who insists that they will go after Hamas anywhere and everywhere, regardless, they will also kind of be given some pause.
RASCOE: So that's obviously the war in Gaza. I mean, do you think that this has ramifications for these sorts of conflicts in the world generally?
ELGINDY: I think so. I mean, Israel has rewritten the rules, such as they are, of warfare, of diplomacy, I mean, essentially by shattering them. And I think, you know, would not surprise me to see other major powers kind of adopting the Israeli model of, well, you know, who says we can't kill the people we're sitting across the table from? I think a lot of countries, like Russia or China, might look at this model and say, the international rules-based order that we used to speak of really no longer exists. It's really a world where anything goes, and so I can probably get away with the same kinds of things.
RASCOE: That's Khaled Elgindy, visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. Thank you so much for joining us.
ELGINDY: Thank you for having me.
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