US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's motorcade swept into Doha less than a week after Israeli warplanes struck the capital, killing five Hamas members mid-talks.
He had come straight from Tel Aviv, where the mood was defiant. At Ben Gurion Airport, before boarding on Tuesday, Rubio told reporters the window for diplomacy was closing.
"We think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen. We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks," he said.
"Our preference, our number-one choice, is that this ends through a negotiated settlement where Hamas says, 'We’re going to demilitarise, we’re no longer going to pose a threat, we’re going to disband, we’re going to release every single hostage.'"
One day earlier, Arab and Islamic leaders had gathered in Doha for an emergency summit that condemned the Israeli strike and declared solidarity with Qatar. The message was sharp, the air bristling.
Rubio tried reassurance. "We reaffirmed the enduring U.S.-Qatar security partnership and our shared commitment to a safer, more stable region," he wrote on the US social media company, X, after meetings with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman.
Rubio thanked Qatar "for its ongoing mediation efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and Hamas and to bring the hostages home."
But the fracture appears real. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari was pointed. "Our relations with the US are strategic, particularly on the defense level," he said.
Yet he emphasised Qatar’s determination to defend its sovereignty and prevent another strike. He claimed Washington had prior knowledge "50 minutes before it occurred" but added in a statement carried by Al Jazeera: "We do not deal with media reports; we communicate directly with the US."
Ansari sharpened the line further. "The message to Netanyahu is that violations of international law without accountability will not continue," he warned.
On mediation, his outlook was bleak: "Talks do not seem realistic now, because Netanyahu wants to assassinate anyone who negotiates with him and bombs the mediating state."
"A key moment"
Rubio avoided confrontation but admitted the strain. "We want them to know how much we appreciate and respect all the time and work and effort they put in in the past to these negotiations, and we hope they'll re-engage despite everything that’s happened. We know they’re upset about it."
He cast Qatar as indispensable. "If any country in the world can help mediate it, Qatar is the one. They’re the ones that can do it. I don’t know if they can after what happened, but I think they could. If anyone can, they can.”
At the centre lay an unfinished pact. "We have a close partnership with the Qataris. In fact, we have an enhanced defense cooperation agreement, which we’ve been working on, and we’re on the verge of finalizing," he said.
Doha confirmed discussions covered both the agreement and the Israeli strike.
When pressed on the wider war, Rubio's tone hardened. "We all prefer that this end with a negotiated settlement that leads to the release of every single hostage, both alive and deceased; that leads to the demilitarisation and disarming of Hamas so they can no longer pose a threat."
He claimed hostages and civilians had prolonged the conflict.
"That’s why they took the hostages. If not, this would have been – if there were no hostages and no civilians in the way, this war would’ve ended a year and a half ago."
"We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks," to reach a deal that would stop the fighting and free hostages held by Hamas, Rubio reiterated. "It’s a key moment."
The American message was layered. Qatar must stay engaged. Israel must be persuaded to show restraint.
However, in Doha, the perception lingered that Washington had failed to check Netanyahu and instead offered quiet cover.
"No better ally"
That sense deepened when, back in West Jerusalem, Netanyahu stood beside Rubio and insisted Hamas leaders would not be spared. He said they would not have immunity "wherever they are".
At the press conference, he argued that every country had the right "to defend itself beyond its borders".
The pair presented a broadly united front, even amid the apparent tensions, with Rubio praising the two countries’ technological and cultural ties, and Netanyahu declaring Israel had "no better ally."
Rubio left after only a few hours in Doha. "All these problems are still here, and they’ve got to be fixed, and Qatar can play a key role in solving it," he said before departing.
Whether Doha believes it can play that role, or whether Netanyahu heard anything that might curb his next attack, remains uncertain.
