According to two people familiar with the situation, Qatar wants Israel to apologize for its strike on Doha before it can continue mediating a peace agreement for Gaza.
Why it's important Following the Israeli strike, Qatar retracted its mediation role. The Trump administration thinks it will be extremely difficult to come to an agreement to free the hostages and put an end to the war without Qatari assistance.
Between the lines: Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has charged that Qatar harbors terrorists and that Israel may even launch another attack in the future.
For Netanyahu and his hard-right coalition, apologizing now would be a politically combustible reversal. However, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, Qataris are willing to be accommodating when it comes to the wording of the mea culpa since they recognize the political complexities in Israel.
Driving the news: All of Hamas' top commanders escaped the Israeli hit in Doha ten days ago, which claimed the lives of five Hamas members and one Qatari security officer.
Israel conducted an airstrike in a Gulf state for the first time, and it greatly increased Israel's isolation in the area.
Behind the scenes: According to a senior Israeli source, Netanyahu acknowledges that he made a mistake in estimating the magnitude of the disaster that an assault on Qatar would generate.
Resuming the Gaza negotiations requires the Trump administration to defuse tensions between Israel and Qatar.
According to the two sources, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani made the apology request and brought up the issue with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during their meeting in Doha on Tuesday.
According to a person with information, Rubio and Netanyahu also discussed the Qatari request during talks with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff will meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in New York on Saturday to talk about efforts to resolve the Israel-Qatar conflict and open the door for further talks.
What they're saying: According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Qataris might accept an apology from Israel that addresses the death of the security guard from Qatar and includes pledges to pay his family and refrain from violating Qatari sovereignty in the future.
Israel has previously apologized in this way. Netanyahu expressed regret to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2013 for the deaths of Turkish activists during the 2010 flotilla raid on Gaza.
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