It took just a few hours after Hamas’ assault on Israel for Qatar’s prime minister to assemble a team at an undisclosed location in the capital, Doha. As the images emerged of missile attacks, gunmen on motorbikes and hostages seized across the border from Gaza, the Gulf state’s leadership knew what it needed to do. For Qatar, it was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the country. The nation has spent more than a decade trying to position itself as the Middle East’s indispensable go-between, criticized by its neighbors for housing Hamas leaders while maintaining channels to Israel. The time had come to step up.

Source: The Times October 30, 2023 02:19 UTC