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September 18, 2025

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Ghazi Hamad is seen in this screengrab from an interview with Al Jazeera on Sept. 17. 2025.

Hamas leader gives first TV interview since Israel’s Doha attack: What to know

Ghazi Hamad is the first member of the Palestinian group who was present when Israel bombed their compound to appear in public.

Rubio lands in Qatar

Rubio pushes mediation in Qatar as Israel launches Gaza City assault

The top US diplomat arrived in Doha to meet with Qatari leaders as the country reels from the recent Israeli strike on its soil.

Reporters follow Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani's address at the media centre, during the opening of the 2025 Arab-Islamic emergency summit in Doha on Sept. 15, 2025.

Arab, Islamic leaders urge 'review' of Israel ties at emergency summit after Doha strikes

The meeting comes less than a week after Israel launched airstrikes targeting Hamas’ leadership in Doha, a move Gulf states say poses a serious threat to regional security.

Latest News

Analysis

Netanyahu scrambles as Gulf states push Trump to sanction Israel over Doha strikes

Win McNamee/Getty Images

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Qatari emir attends Hamas members’ funeral in Doha after Israeli strikes

Funeral prayers are held at the Mohammed bin Abdulwahab Mosque in Doha, on Sept. 11, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Jennifer Gnana

Gulf Correspondent

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Kate Dourian

In Dubai, reporting on energy

Karen Young

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

Hamas's chief representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan (L), Hamas Arab relations chief Khalil al-Hayya (C) and Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command Talal Naji arrive for a press conference during a visit to Damascus, Syria, Oct. 19, 2022.

Reports Hamas' political bureau relocated to Turkey false, Turkish sources say

Turkish diplomatic sources refutes claims of Hamas political leaders relocating from Qatar to Turkey, following media reports.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani looks, in Lusail, Qatar, on Oct. 13, 2023.

In reshuffle, Qatar emir replaces 6 ministers, intel chief: What we know

The Qatari emir issued a series of orders, replacing ministers and appointing new heads of some top agencies in the country, including the State Security, which has been involved in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Mourners offer their condolences to senior member of Hamas' political bureau Musa Abu Marzuk (C) during the funeral of the slain Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Doha on August 2, 2024.

Qatar tells Hamas leaders to leave as Gaza cease-fire talks deadlocked

The Biden administration sees the militant group's presence in Qatar as "no longer viable or acceptable" given its repeated refusal to release even a small number of the remaining hostages.

US President Donald Trump (L) speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May smile during a family photo session at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read KIM KYUNG-HOON/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Beyond congratulations, Trump faces changed, eastward-looking Gulf

Gulf states are familiar with Donald Trump and his transactional nature but have also managed to forge their own regional alliances over the last four years.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser, in Doha on Sunday

What's significance of UAE's Sheikh Tahnoon third visit to Qatar in a year?

Qatar and the UAE are strengthening ties with high-profile meetings and joint investments like the $20 billion Development Road Project. However, differing views on Gaza’s future could challenge their cooperation.

United Arab Emirates

An Airbus A350 plane of Qatar Airways from Doha parks after it landed at Berlin's airport "Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt", during the opening of the southern runway of the airport, in Schoenefeld, southeast of Berlin, on November 4, 2020. - Passenger flights are to began landing on October 31, 2020 at Berlin's new international airport, a moment many Germans thought they might never see after years of embarrassing delays and spiralling costs. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AF

Qatar Airways suspends Iran, Lebanon flights, joining growing list of airlines

Amid conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, few airlines are operating in and out of Tel Aviv, and fewer still in and out of Beirut and Tehran.

Qatari candidates register to run in the country's upcoming election as members of its top advisory panel, known as the Shura Council, in the capital, Doha, on Aug. 22, 2021.

Qatar to vote on ditching legislative council elections as Gulf states balk at representative rule

Qatar's first legislative council election was held in October 2021, a year before it hosted the FIFA World Cup, but the Gulf state now looks poised to roll back citizens' involvement in the legislative process.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani speak to the media following talks at the Chancellery, Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2022.

Qatari emir in Germany to boost economic ties

According to the German chancellery, Scholz will host the emir at Meseberg Castle, with the meeting focusing on deepening energy, trade and regional security ties.

JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images

Gulf governments silent as Iran, proxies mourn Hamas' Yahya Sinwar

Regional governments have not commented on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s killing by Israeli forces in Gaza, but Iran and its proxy groups mourned his death, vowing that the resistance against Israel will continue.

A photograph taken on October 28, 2019 shows Saudi and foreign journalists at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) badge collection centre in the Saudi capital Riyadh. - Top finance executives and political leaders have converged on Saudi capital Riyadh for a Davos-style investment forum, in stark contrast to last year's mass boycott following the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. US officials and the heads of giant banks, top asset management firms and major sovereign wealth funds top the g

Gulf sovereign investors unshaken by Middle East wars but opt for global markets

Gulf Cooperation Council investors accounted for 40% of deals made by sovereign investors globally in 2023 and 2024.

United Arab Emirates

Pictures of slain al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh hang on the facade of the building housing the television station's office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, after Israel issued a 45-day closure order on September 22, 2024. Al Jazeera reported on September 22 that Israeli troops had raided its Ramallah bureau and informed journalists for the Doha-based network in the occupied West Bank to shutter operations. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

After Al Jazeera office closure, what's next for press freedom in Israel?

The closure of the Ramallah Al Jazeera office came after the office in Jerusalem was shut down by order of the Israeli government last May.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends his first press conference, after taking office. on Sept. 16, 2024 in Tehran, Iran.

Pezeshkian in Qatar as Iran pushes to revive nuclear deal, isolate Israel

Coming just a day after Tehran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel, Iran is expecting the visit to serve as a multifaceted initiative, helping shape its future standing in the volatile landscape and boost prospects of sanctions relief to salvage its battered economy.