Weekly Commentary: President Trump attributes the Gaza deal to Qatar attack
Dr. Aaron Lerner 23 October 2025

Take a look at this excerpt from "Phone interview with TIME at the White
House on Oct. 15, 1025"
https://time.com/7327689/trump-israel-gaza-deal-interview-transcript/
###
President Trump: And when he [Netanyahu] made that one tactical mistake, the
one on Qatar, and that was terrible, but actually, and I actually told the
emir, this was one of the things that brought us all together, because it
was so out of joint that it sort of got everybody to do what they have to
do. Does that make sense to you?

TIME Senior Political Correspondent Eric Cortellessa: Yes, definitely.

President Trump: If you took that away, we might not be talking about this
subject right now.
…
President Trump on Mahmoud Abbas: I've always found him reasonable, but
he's probably not.
###

So what was the "tactical mistake"?

The attack itself or the failure to take into account that the Hamas leaders
would step into another room without their cellphones for the Asr afternoon
prayer, thus missing the 3:46 pm pinpoint airstrike?

Was it "terrible" to bomb or "terrible" to miss?

After all, how can President Trump term an operation to kill the leader of
Hamas a "mistake" and then attribute the Gaza deal going through to that
very same operation?

President Trump's observation regarding Mahmoud Abbas indicates a
sophistication far beyond that of many Israelis.

On the one hand, Mr. Trump notes that Abbas talks the talk, so on the
surface he appears to be "reasonable.

But is Abbas actually reasonable?

"He's probably not", notes President Trump..

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