By Soumaya Ghannoushi – Middle East Eye
Israel’s first-ever airstrike on the Qatari capital Doha, which killed six people including a Qatari officer, represents a direct blow to the idea that Arab sovereignty can shield its capitals and cities.
This attack was not merely aimed at Hamas or at a negotiation team in Qatar. It was a message written in fire and shrapnel: “No Arab capital is safe.”
Israel Expands Its War Across Borders
In recent weeks, Israel has widened its circle of aggression to include Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, and even Tunisia, before bringing its war to Doha.
Within hours, Israeli fighter jets struck Qatar while maintaining their military occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor in Gaza, openly challenging Egypt. Drones and missiles roam the skies of the Arab world as if it were occupied airspace.
Israel is not fighting one movement or one strip of land. It is in confrontation with the entire region. Borders are no longer respected, sovereignty no longer recognised.
Despite Qatar’s efforts to mediate a ceasefire alongside Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the bombing of Hamas negotiators in Doha. Six people were killed, including a Qatari officer — the first time Israeli fire has hit Qatari soil.
Doha is no ordinary capital. It hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, enjoys the status of a Major Non-NATO Ally of Washington, and has poured billions of dollars into American coffers. None of that mattered.
In one day, Israel bombed a Gulf state in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula and an Arab state in North Africa, thousands of miles apart. The message was unmistakable: no one is beyond reach.
A New Order Built on Force
Israel is establishing a new order: every Arab land, sea, and sky is a legitimate target whenever it decides. International law is reduced to ashes; brute force is the only law.
Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana confirmed this after the Doha strike, declaring in Arabic: “This is a message to the entire Middle East.” The intent was humiliation, direct and clear.
Netanyahu reaffirmed his full commitment to the vision of a “Greater Israel” — expanding beyond Palestine to include parts of several Arab countries.
And Washington? It stood by silently. Only months earlier, US President Donald Trump boasted in Doha of a $1.2 trillion deal and accepted luxury gifts, including a $400 million private jet he called a “palace in the sky.” Yet when Netanyahu ordered the strike, Trump gave the green light, offering only a perfunctory apology call afterward.
International condemnation followed swiftly. Russia called the attack a “flagrant violation” of international law. Turkey accused Israel of adopting terrorism as state policy. The UN, EU, and Arab League denounced the strike as a grave threat to regional stability.
The reality matches the old warning of Egypt’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak: “Those protected by America are left exposed and naked.”
Negotiators, Not Fighters
The men targeted in Doha were not fighters but negotiators — representatives present at Washington’s request, just as Qatar once hosted the Taliban at America’s behest. Still, Israel bombed its capital with American cover.
If Qatar, with its military base, gifts, and wealth, is not safe, who is?
As one Israeli diplomat admitted: “Sometimes we inform the US administration, sometimes we do not. But ultimately, we alone bear responsibility for the operation.”
This is the unspoken arrangement: Washington reaps the benefits when Israel succeeds and denies liability when it fails. The wolf and its handler understand each other well.
The Old Blueprint Resurfaces
This doctrine of impunity is not new. It traces back to the 1982 Oded Yinon Plan, published in the journal Kivunim and translated by the late Israel Shahak. It called for breaking Arab states into sectarian mini-states: Iraq divided into Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish regions; Syria fractured into Alawite, Druze, and Sunni enclaves; Egypt weakened enough to re-occupy Sinai; Palestinians transferred across the Jordan River.
Today, this vision echoes in Israeli discourse. Far-right figures like Avi Lipkin, founder of the “Bible Bloc” party, openly fantasise about Israeli borders stretching “from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia, and from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates.” Some even imagine the capture of Mecca, Medina, and Mount Sinai.
Books such as “Return to Mecca” detail biblical blueprints for conquest. The goal has always been the same: fragment Arab power so Israel can dominate completely. Look around — Syria shattered, Iraq fragmented, Yemen devastated, Gaza besieged, Lebanon bleeding. The Yinon map has become today’s reality.
Arab Complicity and Silence
Arab regimes bear heavy responsibility for enabling this project. For decades, they surrendered dignity under the illusion that appeasement would bring security: Camp David, Oslo, Wadi Araba, Abraham Accords.
Every time, Israel profited, demanded more, and gave nothing in return.
Egypt is the clearest example. While issuing token condemnations of the genocide in Gaza, it has deepened trade with Israel. Egyptian exports to Israel doubled in 2024 and rose another 50% in the first half of 2025. Cairo is negotiating a $35 billion gas deal with Israel — its largest ever — even as Norway’s sovereign wealth fund divests from Israeli firms over war crimes.
Netanyahu now uses these deals as leverage against Egypt, halting implementation to extract political concessions. Beyond trade, Arab leaders enable Israel by keeping their skies open.
Europe closed its airspace to Russian planes during the Ukraine war. The US did the same. Russia responded in kind. Yet Arab and Muslim rulers have not dared to take this simplest step. Israeli commercial flights still cross Saudi, Omani, and Jordanian skies to reach Asia, even as its warplanes bomb Gaza and now Doha. Turkey too keeps its skies open.
The result is complicity — paralysis and betrayal.
The Arab People Are Watching
No one expects Arab states to declare war on Israel. But they could impose sanctions, shut airspace, suspend trade. Instead, they jail protesters, ban demonstrations, and suppress solidarity movements.
But silence will not last forever. The Arab street watches Palestinians endure genocide and starvation, witnesses global solidarity rising from London to Cape Town, Jakarta to New York, and asks: Why do our rulers do nothing?
This energy will erupt sooner or later. Arab regimes still have time to choose: abandon the illusion that normalising with a fascist, expansionist Israel will save them, and instead build collective defense with true allies.
Unless Arab states recognise that Israel — not Iran or any other actor — is the fundamental threat to their survival, they will remain exposed and humiliated.
The End of the American Protection Myth
For decades, Gulf rulers believed oil, bases, and investments could buy security. But Trump and Netanyahu have torn that illusion apart. Today, the US and Israel in the Middle East function as one entity — patron and executor.
Together, they delivered the only message that matters: No one is safe. Not Gaza, not Doha, not Tunis. If the region does not wake up, even Mecca and Medina will not be spared.
