US and Qatar Working on Enhanced Defense Pact Following Israeli Strike in Doha

The United States and Qatar are nearly finished hashing out a new defense cooperation agreement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Sept. 15, during a trip through the Middle East.

“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,” Rubio told reporters as he departed Israel for Doha on Monday.

Rubio’s announcement comes after Israeli forces launched a surprise unilateral strike in Doha on Sept. 9, aimed at taking out Hamas leaders with offices in the Qatari capital city.

Qatar has been a key regional partner of the United States over the years, including by hosting U.S. troops at Al Udeid Air Base.

Doha has also played host to Hamas political leadership and has served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas amid the ongoing Gaza conflict. Hamas political leaders in Doha had received a new U.S. cease-fire proposal for Gaza just days before the Israeli strike.

Rubio offered no additional details to reporters about the scope of the enhanced defense cooperation between the United States and Qatar. He met with Qatar’s monarch, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Sept. 16.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari indicated the enhanced cooperation agreement was spurred by the recent Israeli strike.

“It’s not something new per se, but certainly expedited,” Al Ansari said.

The Qatari government has referred to the Israeli strike on Doha as an act of “state terrorism.”

Following the Sept. 9 strike in Doha, the Trump administration has tried to balance its support for both Qatar and Israel.

“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 America’s goals,” President Donald Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform shortly after the Israeli strike.

In his initial reaction to the Doha strike, Trump said that eliminating Hamas leaders remains “a worthy goal” for Israel, but assured Qatari officials “that such a thing will not happen again on their soil.”

Israeli forces ramped up offensive operations in Gaza City on Tuesday in hopes of uprooting one of the final Hamas strongholds in the war-torn territory.

As he spoke with reporters ahead of his visit to Qatar, Rubio said time is likely running out to reach a deal for the release of 48 hostages still held in Gaza.

“The Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen,” Rubio said. “We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks.”